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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/geniusofscotlandOOturn 



A/ ^<- 



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/r THE ^ 

GENIUS 



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SCOTLAND; 

SKETCHES OF SCOTTISH SCENERY, 
LITERATURE AND RELIGION. 



BY 



REV. ROBERT TURNBULL 



NEW YORK: 

ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET, 
AND PITTSBURG, 56 MARKET STREET. 




1847, 










Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, 

BY EGBERT CARTER, 

In the Clerk*s Office of the District Court of the United States 

for the Southern District of New York. 



JJWASHINOTOW 



•TBRKOTYPED BY THOMAS B. SMITH, EDWARD O. JENKINS, PRINTER, 

316 WILLIAM STREET, MEW YORK. 114 NASSAU STREET. 



'r)(j^i 



10 - 



774 



PREFACE. 



Having been born and educated in Scotland, and pos- 
sessing a tolerable acquaintance with its History and 
Literature, the Author of the following Work felt that 
he had some facilities for giving to the people of this 
country a just idea of his native Land. The plan of his 
work is somewhat new, combining in a larger degree, 
than he hae hitherto seen attempted, descriptions of Sce- 
nery, with Literary and Biographical Sketches, portrai- 
tures of character social and religious, incidents of travel, 
and reflections on matters of local or general interest. 
Hence he has omitted many things which a mere tourist 
would not fail to notice, and supplied their place with 
sketches of more enduring interest. He would particu- 
larly invite attention to the sketches of Knox, Burns, 
Wilson, Chalmers, Bruce, * The Ettrick Shepherd,' and 
Sir Walter Scott. His rambles through fair or classic 
scenes are thus enlivened with useful information. In a 
word, it has been his endeavor, in an easy natural way, 
to give his readers an adequate conception of the Scenery, 
Literature, and Religion of Scotland. 

Haetford, Conn. 



CONTENTS 



PAQX 

Preface 1 

CHAPTER I. 

Beauty an Element of tlie Mind — Our Native Land — Auld 
Lang Syne — General Description of Scotland — Extent of 
Population — Spirit of the People — The Highlands — The 
Lowlands — Burns's ^Genius of Scotland' — Natural and 
Moral Aspects of the Country — ' The Cotter^s Saturday 
Night' — Sources of Prosperity 11 

CHAPTER n. 

The city of Edinburgh — Views from Arthur's Seat — The 
Poems of Richard Gall — 'Farewell to Ayrshire' — 'Ar- 
thur's Seat, a Poem' — Extracts — Craigmillar Castle — The 
Forthj Roslin Castle and the Pentland Hills — Liberty . 32 

CHAPTER III. 

Walk to the Castle — The Old Wynds and their Occupants 
— Regalia of Scotland — Storming of the Castle — Views 
from its Summit — Heriot's Hospital — Other Hospitals — 
St. Giles's Cathedral — Changes — The Spirit of Protes- 
tantism 42 

CHAPTER IV 

John Knox's House — History of the Reformer — His Char- 
acter— Carlyle's View— Testimony of John Milton . 53 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 

PAGB 

Edinburgh University — Professor Wilson — His Life and 
Writings, Genius and Character ... .62 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Calton Hill — Burns's Monument — Character and Wri- 
tings of ' the Peasant Poet' — His Religious Views — Mon- 
ument of Professor Dugald Stewart — Scottish Metaphysics 
— Thomas Carlyle . . 77 

CHAPTER VII. 

Preaching in Edinburgh — The Free Church — Dr. Chalmers 
— A Specimen of his Preaching — The Secret of his Elo- 
quence 99 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Biographical Sketch of Dr. Chalmers 113 

CHAPTER IX. 

Dr. John Brown of Edinburgh — Rev. John Brown of White- 
burn — Professor John Brown of Haddington — Rev. Dr. 
Candlish — Specimen of his Preaching . . . .126 

CHAPTER X. 

Ride into the Country — The Skylark — Poems on the Sky- 
lark by Shelley and the ' Ettrick Shepherd' — Newhall — 
• The Gentle Shepherd' — Localities and Outlines of the 
Story — Its Popularity in Scotland 138 

CHAPTER XI. 

Biographical Sketch of Allan Ramsay — Lasswade — Ramble 
along the banks of the North Esk — Glenesk — A Character 
— Anecdote of Sir Walter Scott — Hawthornden — Drum- 
mond, the Poet — His Character and Genius — Sonnets — 
Chapel and Castle of Roslin — Barons of Roslin — Ballad 
of Rosabella — Hunting Match between Robert Bruce and 
Sir William St. Clair 157 



CONTENTS. VU 

CHAPTER XTI. 

PAGE 

Ramble througli the Fields — Parish Schools — Recollections 
of Domiuie Meuross — The South Esk — Borthwick and 
Crichtoun Castles — New Battle Abbey — Dalkeith — Res- 
idence of the Duke of Buccleugh—' Scotland's Skaith,' 
by Hector Macneil— His Character and Writings — Ex- 
tracts from the • History of Will and Jean' . . .183 

CHAPTER XIII. 

City of Glasgow — Spirit of the Place — Trade and Manufac- 
tures — The Broomielaw— Steam — George's Square — Mon- 
uments to Sir Walter Scott, Sir John Moore, and James 
Watt— Sketch of the Life of Watt— Glasgow University 
— Reminiscences — Brougham — Sir D. K. Sandford — Pro- 
fessor Nichol and others — High Kirk, or Glasgow Cathe- 
dral — Martyrdom of Jerome Russel and John Kennedy . 197 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Necropolis — Jewish Burial Place — Monument to John 
Knox — Monuments of William Macgavin and Dr. Dick 
— Reminiscences — Character and Writings of Dr. Dick — 
Pollok and ' the Course of Time' — Grave of Motherwell 
— Sketch of his Life — His Genius and Poetry — ' Jeanie 
Morrison' — ' My Heid is like to rend, Willie' — ' A Sum- 
mer Sabbath Noon' . . . . . . . . 209 

CHAPTER XV. 

Dumbarton Castle — Lochlomond — Luss — Ascent of Benlo- 
mond— Magnificent Views — Ride to Loch-Katrine — Rob 
Roy Macgregor — ' Gathering of Clan Gregor' — Loch-Ka- 
trine and the Trossacks — The City of Perth — Martyr- 
dom of Helen Stark and her husband . . . .231 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Sabbath Morning— ' The Sabbath,' by James t^rahame — 
Sketch of his Life—Extracts from his Poetry— The Ca- 
meronians— ' Dream of the Martyrs/ by James Hislop — 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

PAOX 

Sabbath Morning Walk— Country Church— The Old 
Preacher — The Interval of Worship — Conversation in the 
Church-yard — Going Home from Church — Sabbath Eve- 
ning 244 

CHAPTER XVir. 

Lochleven — Escape of Clueen Mary from Lochleven Castle 
— Michael Bruce— Sketch of his Life— Boyhood— Col- 
lege Liffe — Poetry — ' Lochleven' — Sickness — ' Ode to 
Spring'— Death— 'Ode to the Cuckoo' . . . .260 

CHAPTER XVIIL 

Dunfermline — Ruins of the Abbey — Grave of Robert Bruce 
— Malcolm Canmore's Palace — William Henryson, the 
poet — William Dunbar — Stirling Castle — Views from its 
Summit — City of Stirling — George Buchanan and Dr. Ar- 
thur Johnston — Falkirk — Linlithgow — Story of the Cap- 
ture of Linlithgow Castle — Spirit of War — Arrival in 
Edinburgh 284 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Journey to Peebles — Characters — Conversation on Politics — 
Scottish Peasantry — Peebles — ' Christ's Kirk on the 
Green' — A Legend — An old Church— The Banks of the 
Tweed — Its ancient Castles — The Alarm Fire — Excursion 
to the Vales of Ettrick and Yarrow — Stream of Yarrow 
— St. Mary's Lake and Dryhope Tower — 'The Dowie 
Dens of Yarrow' — Growth of Poetry — Ballads and Poems 
on Yarrow by HamiltoUj Logan and Wordsworth . . 295 

CHAPTER XX. 

Hamlet and Church-yard of Ettrick — Monument to Thomas 
Boston — Birth-place of the Ettrick Shepherd — Altrieve 
Cottage — Biographical Sketch of the Ettrick Shepherd — 
The Town of Selkirk— Monument to Sir Walter Scott — 
Battle-field of Philiphaugh 319 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Return to the Banks of the Tweed— Abbotsford — The 
Study— Biographical Sketch of Sir Walter Scott — His 



CONTENTS. IX 

FAGS 

Early Life — Residence in the Country — Spirit of Ro- 
mance — Education — First Efforts as an Author — Success 
of ^ Marmion' — Character of his Poetry— Literary Change 
— His Novels — Pecuniary Difficulties — Astonishing Ef- 
forts — Last Sickness— Death and Funeral . . .334 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Melrose Abbey— The Eildon Hills — Thomas the Rhymer — 
Dryburgh — Monuments to the Author of ^ The Seasons' 
and Sir William Wallace — Kelso — Beautiful Scenery — 
A Pleasant Evening — Biographical Sketch of Leyden, 
Poet, Antiquary, Scholar and Traveller — The Duncan 
Family — Journey Resumed — Twisel Bridge — Battle of 
Flodden — Norham Castle — Berwick upon Tweed — Bio- 
graphical Sketch of Thomas Mackay Wilson, author of 
' The Border Tales'— Conclusion— ^ Auld Lang Syne' . 351 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 



CHAPTER I. 

Beauty an Element of the Mind — Our Native Land — Auld Lang 
Syne — General Description of Scotland — Extent of Population 
— Spirit of the People — The Highlands — The Lowlands — 
Burns's ' Genius of Scotland' — Natural and Moral Aspects of 
the Country — 'The Cotter's Saturday Night' — Sources of 
Prosperity. 

The theory has become prevalent among phi- 
losophers, and even among literary men, that 
beauty is more an element of the mind than of ex- 
ternal objects. Things, say they, are not w^hat they 
seem. Their aspects are ever varying with the 
minds which gaze upon them. They change even 
under the eyes of the same individuals. A striking 
illustration of this may be found in the opening stanza 
of Wordsworth's Ode to Immortality. 

There was a time -when meadow, grove and stream, 
The earth and every common sight 

To me did seem 

Apparelled in celestial light, 
The glory and the freshness of a dream. 
It is not now as it hath been of yore j 

Turn wheresoe'er I may, 

By night or day, 
The things which I have seen I now can see no more. 



12 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

It is the mind then, which transfers its own ethe- 
real colors to the forms of matter, and invests scenes 
and places with new and peculiar attractions.'- Like 
the light of the moon streaming through a leafy- 
grove and transforming its darkness into its own 
radiant beauty, the spirit of man diffuses its own 
inspiration through the universe, 

" Making all nature 
Beauty to the eye and music to the ear.'' 

Now if this theory be true, it follows that no coun- 
try will appear to us so beautiful as the one which 
happens to be endeared to our hearts by early re- 
collections and pleasant associations. No matter 
how rude and wild, — that spot of all others on 
earth, will appear to us the sweetest and most at- 
tractive ! ' New England,' says a native of Mas- 
sachusetts or of Vermont, ' is the glory of all lands. 
No hills and vales are more picturesque than hers, 
no rivers more clear and beautiful.' ' Visit Naples, 
and die !' exclaims the Neapolitan, proud of his clas- 
sic home. ' Green Erin, my darling,' is the fond 
language of the Hibernian, ' first gem of the ocean, 
first flower of the sea.' ' Here's a health,' shouts 
the native of Caledonia, * bonny Scotland to thee !' 
Others may speak disparagingly of the sour climate 
and barren soil of Scotland; but to a native of 
that country, the land of his fathers is invested 
with all the charms of poetry and romance. Every 
spot of its varied surface is hallowed ground. He 
sees its rugged rocks and desolate moors mantled 
with the hoary memories of by-gone days, the thrill- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 13 

ing associations of childhood and youth. There- 
fore, with a meaning and emphasis, which all who 
love their native land will appreciate, he appro- 
priates the words of the poet : — 

Land of the forest and the rock, 

Of dark blue lake and mighty river, 
Of mountains reared aloft to mock, 
The storm's career, the lightning's shock, 

My own green land forever ! 
Land of the beautiful and brave ! 
The freeman's home, the martyr's grave ? 
The nursery of giant men, 
Whose deeds have linked with every glen, 
The magic of a warrior's name ! 

Does not Scotland, however inferior, in some re- 
spects, it may be deemed to other lands, possess a 
peculiar charm to all cultivated minds ?* What 

=^ The following eloquent passage from an address by the Hon- 
orable Edward Everett, before the " Scots' Charitable Society," 
Boston, well illustrates the fact referred to. 

^'Not to speak of the worthies of ages long passed; of the 
Knoxes, the Buchanans, and the early minstrelsy of the border ; 
the land of your fathers, sir, since it ceased to be a separate king- 
dom, has, through the intellect of her gifted sons, acquired a su- 
premacy over the minds of men, more extensive and more endur- 
ing, than that of Alexander or Augustus. It would be impossi- 
ble to enumerate them all, — the Blairs of the last generation, the 
Chalmerses of this ; the Robertsons, and Humes ; the Smiths, 
the Reids, the Stuarts, the Browns ; the Homes, the Mackenzies j 
the Mackintoshes, the Broughams, the Jeffreys, with their dis- 
tinguished compeers, both on physical and moral science. The 
Marys and the Elizabeths, the Jameses and the Charleses will be 
forgotten, before these names will perish from the memory of 
men. And when I add to them those other illustrious names — 
Burns, Campbell, Byron, and Scott, may I not truly say, sir, that 
the throne and the sceptre of England will crumble into dust like 

2 



14 GENIUS OF SCOTLANIJ. 

visions of ancient glory cluster around the time-hon- 
ored name ! What associations of * wild native 
grandeur,' — of wizard beauty, and rough magnifi- 

those of Scotland : and Windsor Castle and W^estminster Abbey 
will lie in ruins as poor and desolate as those of Scone and lona, 
before the lords of Scottish song shall cease to reign in the hearts 
of men. 

For myself, sir, I confess that I love Scotland. I have reason 
to do so. I have trod the soil of the 

Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
Land of the mountain and the flood, 

I have looked up to the cloud-capt summit of Ben Lomond ; have 
glided among the fairy islets of Loch Katrine ; and from the bat- 
tlements of Stirling Castle, have beheld the links of Forth spark- 
ling in the morning sun. I have done more, sir ; I have tasted that 
generous hospitality of Scotland, which her Majesty's Consul 
has so justly commemorated ; I have held converse with her most 
eminent sons ; I have made my pilgrimage to Melrose Abbey, in 
company with that modern magician, who, mightier than the ma- 
gician of old that sleeps beneath the marble floor of its chancel, 
has hung the garlands of immortal poesy upon its shattered 
arches, and made its moss-clad ruins a shrine, to be visited by the 
votary of the muse from the remotest corners of the earth, to the 
end of time. Yes, sir, musing as I did, in my youth, over the 
sepulchre of the wizard, once pointed out by the bloody stain of 
the cross and the image of the archangel : — standing within that 
consecrated enclosure, under the friendly guidance of him whose 
genius has made it holy ground ; while every nerve within me 
thrilled with excitement, my fancy kindled with the inspiration 
of the spot. I seemed to behold, not the vision so magnificently 
described by the minstrel, — the light, which, as the tomb was 
opened, 

broke forth so gloriously, 
Streamed upward to the chancel roof. 
And through the galleries far aloof : 

But I could fancy that I beheld, with sensible perception, the 
brighter light, which had broken forth from the master mind j 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 15 

cence. What gleams of * poetic sunlight,' — what 
recollections of martial daring by flood and field, — 
what hallowed faith and burning zeal, — what mar- 
tyr toils and martyr graves, monuments of free- 
dom's struggles and freedom's triumphs in moor 
or glen, — what ' lights and shadows' of love and 
passion, — what ancient songs, echoing among the 
hills, — what blessed sabbath calm, — what lofty in- 
spiration of the Bible and covenant, — in a word, 
what dear and hallowed memories of that ' Auld 
lang syne,' indigenous only to Scotland, though 
known throughout the world ! Should this be 
deemed enthusiastic, let it, and all else of a similar 
character which may be found in this volume, be 
ascribed to a natural and not unpardonable feeling 
on the part of the writer. The remembrance of 
* Auld lang syne' can never be extinguished. Ex- 
cept the hope of heaven, it is our best and holiest 
heritage. 

As ^ Auld Lang Syne' brings Scotland one and all, 

Scotch plaids, Scotch snoods, the blue hills and clear streams, 
The Dee, the Don, Balgownies brig's black wall, 

All my boy feelings, all my gentler dreams 
Of "what I then dreamt, clothed in their own pall. 

Like Banquo's offspring ; floating past me seems 
My childhood, in this childishness of mind ; 

I care not ; — 'tis a glimpse of ' Auld Lang Syne.' 

Byron. 

Beautiful is New England, resembling as she 

which had streamed from his illumined page ail-gloriously up- 
ward, above the pinnacles of worldly grandeur, till it mingled its 
equal beams, with that of the brightest constellations, in the in- 
tellectual firmament of England.'' 



16 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

does, in many of her features, ' Auld Scotia's hills 
and dales,' and moreover being much akin to her, 
in rehgious sentiment and the love of freedom ; so 
that a native of either might well be forgiven for 
clinging with peculiar fondness to the land of his 
birth, and, in certain moods of mind, prefering it to 
all the world beside. Though far away, and even 
loving the place of his estrangement, he cannot, if 
he would, altogether renounce those ties which 
bind him to his early home. A ' viewless chain,' 
which crosses ocean and continent, conveys from 
the one to the other that subtle, yet gracious in- 
fluence, which is quicker and stronger than the 
lightning's gleam. Let no one then be surprised if 
a Scotsman in New England, the cherished land of 
his adoption, should solace his mind with the recol- 
lection of early days, and endeavor to set before 
others the characteristic beauties and excellencies 
of his native country. 

O Caledonia, stern and wild, 

Meet nurse for a poetic child ! 

Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 

Land of the mountain and the flood, 

Land of my sires ! What mortal hand, 

Can e'er untie the filial band 

That knits me to thy rugged strand ! 

" Scotland," as one of her own sons has express- 
ed it, " is a wee bit country," but possessed of 
" muckle pith and spirit." Its surface is rough and 
mountainous, with beautiful patches of rich arable 
land along the courses of its streams, and extensive 
level meadows, called Carses, as the Carse of Fal- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 17 

kirk, and the Carse of Gowrie. It is of unequal 
breadth, being much indented with bays and creeks, 
and stretches some two hundred and eighty miles 
in length, reckoning from its most southerly point, 
the Mull of Galloway, to Dunnefs Head, its most 
northern extremity. This probably would be a 
little farther than from " Maiden Kirk to Johnny 
Groat's," the " from Dan to Beersheba" of Scot- 
land. Clustering around its western and northern 
sides are the Hebrides, the Shetland and the Ork- 
ney islands ; wild and rocky isles, with rude and 
primitive inhabitants, constituting the Ultima Thule 
of Great Britain. In Scotland, a considerable por- 
tion of the land is uncultivated, consisting of heathy 
hills, mountains and moors ; and the most of that 
which is cultivated has been rendered productive 
by the hand of art and industry. Like Switzerland, 
it is comparatively a poor country, but has been 
made rich by the generative powers of mind. Her 
wealth consists in the brawny arms and vigorous 
intellects of her sons. The cUmate is cold and 
variable, though milder in winter than that of New 
England, and in summer cooler, and upon the whole, 
more agreeable, except when dense fogs and long- 
continued rains prevail. 

The population is over two millions and a half, 
and is gradually increasing, though the people, like 
those of New England, are greatly given to migra- 
tion, and may be found in every part of the world. 
Its commerce and manufactures are, for its size, 
very extensive. They have increased, since 1814, 

from twenty-five to thirty per cent. Agriculture and 

2# 



18 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

the mechanic arts have been carried to a high de- 
gree of perfection. While the people are charac- 
teristically cautious and slow, " looking before they 
leap," to quote one of their favorite proverbs, they 
are bold and enterprising, and thus leap long and 
successfully. Few nations have accomphshed so 
much in literature or trade, in science or the arts 
of industry. Their highest distinction, however, 
consists in their spirit of love and fealty, their leal- 
heartedness, their contempt of sham, their passion- 
ate love of freedom, their zeal for God and the 
truth ! Obstinate and wrong-headed at times, char- 
acteristically dogmatic, and perhaps a little intoler- 
ant, their very faults lean to virtue's side, and go 
to the support of goodness. Their punctiliousness 
and pride, their dogged adherence to what they 
conceive to be right, and their vehement mode of 
defending it, constitute the rough and prickly bark 
which defends the precious tree. One thing is cer- 
tain, they are transparent as daylight, and honest as 
their own heathy hills. 

They are preeminently a religious people, pro- 
testant to the ' backbone, occasionally rough and 
impetuous in the expression of their opinions, but 
never formal, never indecorous. A profound en- 
thusiasm, bordering on fanaticism, a passionate, 
though not boisterous or canting devotion, a fine 
sense of the grand and beautiful, intermingled with 
a keen conscientiousness, an ardent love of freedom, 
with a boundless trust in God, form the great ele- 
ments of their religious life. Their theology is 
chiefly Calvinistic, apparently philosophical and 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 19 

dogmatic, but rather less so than popular and prac- 
tical. Of cathedrals, old and dim, of masses, chants 
and processions, the pomp and circumstance of a 
magnificent ritual, they have none.* But of old 
and glorious memories, solemn temples among the 
woods and hills, hallowed grave-yards, blessed sa- 
craments, and national enthusiasm, they have abun- 
dance. Their religion is a part of the soil. It is 
indigenous to the country. It grew up among the 
mountains, was nursed by * wizard streams,' and 
*led forth' with the voice of psalms, among 'the 
green pastures of the wilderness.' Somewhat for- 
bidding at first, like the rough aspect of the coun- 
try, it appears equally picturesque and beautiful, 
when really known and loved. It is the religion 
not of form but of substance, of deep inward emo- 
tion, not of outward pretension and show. Neither 
is it a sickly sentimentalism which lives on poetic 
musings, and matures only in cloistered shades and 
moonlight groves ; but it is a healthy, robust prin- 
ciple which goes forth to do and to suffer the will 
of Heaven. Its head and heart are sound, and its 
works praise it in the gate. Beautiful as the visions 
of fancy, it is yet strong as the everlasting hills 
among which it was reared. In a w^ord, it is the 
religion of faith and love, the religion of the old 
puritans, of the martyrs and confessors of primitive 
times. Welling out forever from the unstained foun- 
tains of the Word of God, it has marked its course 
over the fair face of Scotland, with the greenest ver- 
dure, the sweetest flowers. 

^ This is spoken, of course, of the great body of the people. 



20 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Scotland is naturally divided into Highlands and 
Lowlands. The former includes, besides the va- 
rious groups of islands on the north and northwest 
coast, the counties of Argyle, Inverness, Nairn, 
Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland and Caithness, with 
portions of Dumbarton, Stirling, Perth, Forfar, 
" Aberdeen awa," Banff and Elgin, or the more 
northerly regions of the country, protected and 
beautified by the mighty range of the Grampians, 
commencing at the southern extremity of Loch 
Etive, and terminating at the mouth of the Dee on 
the eastern coast. The Highlands again are divi- 
ded into two unequal portions by the beautiful chain 
of lochs, or lakes running through the Glenmore- 
Nan-Albin, or Great Glen of Caledonia, forming 
some of the wildest and richest scenery in the 
world. To the north are the giant mountains 
of Macdui, Cairngorm, Ben-Aven and Ben-More, 
while nearer the Lowlands, rise the lofty Ben- 
Lomond, and the hoary Ben-Aw^e. Under their 
shadows gleam the storied lochs, the wild tarns and 
trosachs, whose picturesque and romantic beauties 
have been immortalized by the pens of Burns, Scott, 
and Wilson. 

To the south and east of the Grampian range, 
and running parallel to them, you discover a chain 
of lower and more verdant hills, bearing the well 
known and poetical names of the Sidlaw, Campsie 
and Ochil hills. These are divided by the fertile 
valleys of the Tay and Forth. Between them and 
the Grampians lies the low and charming valley of 
Strathmore. The " silver Tay," one of the finest 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 21 

rivers in Scotland, rises in Breadalbane, expands 
into lake Dochart, flows in an easterly direction 
through the vale of Glendochart, expands again 
into the long and beautiful Loch Tay, which runs 
like a belt of silver among the hills, whence issuing, 
it receives various accessions from other streams, 
passes on in a southerly direction to Dunkeld, fa- 
mous for its ancient Abbey and lovely scenery, 
skirts the ancient and delightful city of Perth, be- 
low which it forms the Firth of Tay, passes the 
populous and thriving town of Dundee, and after 
receiving its great tributary, the Earn, which flows 
in serpentine windings through the rich vale of 
Strath Earn, it glides by Taymouth Castle, the 
magnificent seat of the Duke of Breadalbane, and 
loses itself in the waters of the Northern Sea. Fur- 
ther north, the rapid Spey, springing from the 
* braes of Badenoch' near Lochaber, passes tumul- 
tuously through a rough and mountainous country, 
lingering occasionally, as if to rest itself in some 
deep glen, crosses the ancient province of Moray, 
famous for its floods, so admirably described by Sir 
Thomas Dick Lauder, passes Kinrara, " whence, 
for a few miles, it is attended by a series of land- 
scapes, alike various, singular and magnificent," 
after which, it moves, with a monotonous aspect, 
and a steady pace, to the sea. Portions of the 
country through which this river passes are exceed- 
ingly sterile and wild. Covered with the birch, the 
alder and the pine, varied by rugged rocks and 
desolate moors, it admirably corresponds to our 



22 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

notions of Caledonia, in her ancient and primitive 
integrity. 

In the more remote and northern regions of the 
Highlands, and in most of the Scottish isles, the 
Gaehc, or Erse, a primitive and energetic tongue, 
somewhat akin to the Welsh or Irish, is spoken by 
a majority of the inhabitants. In other parts of 
Scotland, the EngUsh, w^ith a Scottish idiom, is the 
prevalent speech. The literature of the Gaelic is 
exceedingly limited, confined chiefly to old ballads, 
songs and traditionary stories. The poems of Os- 
sian are doubtless the production of Macpherson, 
their professed translator, while they probably con- 
tain a few translated fragments, and some tradition- 
ary facts and conceptions afloat among the High- 
landers, ingeniously interwoven with the main 
fabric of the work. 

The Highlanders are a simple-hearted, primitive 
race, mostly poor, and imperfectly educated. Those 
of them that are wealthy and well educated, are 
said to be remarkably acute, courteous, and agree- 
able. 

The Lowlands of Scotland comprehend the south 
and southeastern portions of the country, and though 
not the grandest and most romantic, are by far the 
best cultivated, and in some respects the most beau- 
tiful. Including the level ground on the eastern 
coast to the south of the Moray Firth, they stretch 
along the coast through portions of Perthshire, and 
the old kingdom of Fife, towards the regions bound- 
ed on either side, by the river and the Firth of 
Forth, and thence to Kircudbright and the English 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 23 

border, including the principal cities, the most fer- 
tile tracts of arable land, the rivers Forth, Clyde 
and Tweed, and the range of the Cheviot hills, 
which extend from the north of England towards 
the northwest, join the Louther hills in the region 
of Ettrick and Yarrow, with their ' silver streams,' 
pass through the southern part of Ayrshire and ter- 
minate at Loch Ryan, in the Irish Channel. The 
Clyde is the most important commercial river in 
Scotland. Taking its origin among the mountains 
of the south, not far from the early home of its 
beautiful and more classic sisters, the Tweed and 
the Annan, it runs in many capricious windings, in 
a northwesterly direction, leaps in foaming cas- 
cades first at Bonnington, and then at Cora Linn, 
rushes on through the line country of Lanarkshire, 
till, joined by many tributary streams, it passes 
through the large and flourishing city of Glasgow, 
bearing upon its bosom the vast commerce and 
population of the neighboring regions, flows around 
the walls of old Dumbarton Castle, with its time- 
worn battlements and glorious memories, in sight, 
too, of the lofty Ben Lomond, and the beautiful lake 
which it protects, touches the ancient city of Green- 
ock, expands into the Firth of Clyde, and gradual- 
ly loses itself amid the picturesque islands which 
adorn the western coast of Scotland. 

Were it possible, by placing ourselves upon 
some lofty elevation, to take in at one glance, the 
whole of this varied landscape of lake, river, and 
mountain ; of tarn, trosach and moor, with verdant 
vales, and woody slopes between, we should con- 



24 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

fess that it was one of as rare beauty and wild 
magnificence as ever greeted the vision of man. 
And were our minds steeped in ancient and poetic 
lore, we should be prepared to appreciate the faith- 
fulness and splendor of Burns's allegorical descrip- 
tion of the " Genius of Scotland." 

" Green, slender, leaf-clad holly boughs, 
Were twisted gracefu' round her brows ; 
I took her for some Scottish Muse, 

By that same token, 
And come to stop those reckless vows 

Would soon be broken. 

A hair-brained sentimental trace, 
Was strongly marked in her face ; 
A wildly witty-rustic grace, 

Shone full upon her, 
Her eye e'en turned on empty space, 

Beamed keen with honor. 

Her mantle large, of greenish hue, 

My gazing wonder chiefly drew. 

Deep lights and shadows mingling threw 

A lustre grand ; 
And seemed, to my astonished view 

A well known land! 

Here rivers in the sea were lost ; 
There mountains in the skies were tost ; 
Here tumbling billows marked the coast, 

With surging foam ; 
There, distant shone, Art's lofty boast, 

The lordly dome. 

Here Doon poured down his far-fetched floods ; 
There well fed Irwine stately thuds : 
Auld hermit Ayr staw through his woods, 

On to the shore ; 
And many a lesser torrent scuds 

With seeming roar. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 25 

Low in a sandy valley spread. 

An ancient borough reared her head 

Still as in Scottish story read. 

She boasts a race, 
To every nobler virtue bred. 

And polished grace. 

By stately tower or palace fair 

Or ruins pendent in the air 

Bold stems of heroes here and there, 

I could discern ; 
Some seemed to muse, some seemed to dare 

With feature stern.'' 

Now, imagine the whole of this country, studded 
at no remote intervals, with churches and schools 
well supported, and well attended by young and 
old. Think of her ancient and able Universities, 
Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen, 
including in the last, Marischal College and Kings 
College, with an average attendance of from 2500 
to 3000 students, with their learned and amiable 
professors, extensive libraries, and fine collections 
in Natural History. Think of her innumerable 
high schools, private schools, public and private 
libraries, literary institutes and ancient hospitals, 
some for the body and some for the mind, and con- 
nect the whole with her heroic history, her poetical 
enthusiasm, her reUgious faith, her fealty to God 
and man, and you will have some faint conception 
of the beauty and glory of Scotland. 

But the impression would be deepened, could 
you behold the land, beautified and ennobled by 
her sabbath calm, as once in seven days, she rests 
and worships before the Lord. Could you but hear 

3 



26 -GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

the voice of her church-going bells, and go to the 
house of God, in company with her thoughtful but 
cheerful population ; could you sit in some " auld 
warld" kirk, and hear some grey-haired holy man 
dispense, with deep and tender tones, the word of 
everlasting life ; could you hear a whole congre- 
gation of devout worshippers make the hills ring 
again, with their simple melody ; above all, could 
you place yourself in some deep shady glen, by the 
" sweet burnie," as it " wimples" among the waving 
willows, or the yellow broom, or sit down on the 
green " brae side," enamelled with " gowans," on 
some sacramental occasion, when thousands are 
gathered to hear the preaching of the gospel, and 
with simple ritual, to commemorate the dying love 
of the Redeemer ! Could you see the devout and 
happy looks of the aged, and the sweet but rever- 
ent aspect of children and youth, as the tones of 
some earnest preacher thrilled them with emotions 
of holy gratitude, in view of the " loving kindness of 
the Lord," you would instinctively feel that Scot- 
land, — free, Protestant Scotland, was a happy land, 
and would be prepared to exclaim with the sweet 
singer of Israel : " Blessed are the people that 
know the joyful sound, they shall walk, O Lord, in 
the light of thy countenance." 

" How with religious awe impressed 
They open .lay the guileless breast ; 
And youth and age with fears distressed 

All due prepare, 
The symbols of eternal rest 

Devout to share. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 27 

How down ilk lang withdrawing hill. 
Successive crowds the valleys fill ; 
While pure religious converse still 

Beguiles the way, 
And gives a cast to youthful will, 

To suit the day. 

How placed along the sacred board, 
Their hoary pastor's looks adored, — 
His voice with peace and blessing stored, 

Sent from above. 
And Mth and hope, and joy afford 

And boundless love. 

O'er this with warm seraphic glow, 
Celestial beings pleased bow ; 
And whispered hear the holy vow, 

'Mid grateful tears ; 
And mark amid such scenes below 

Their future peers."* 

Or you might leave this scene, and study the 
Scottish character with some shepherd boy on the 
hills, as he reads God's word upon the green-sward, 
and meditates on things divine, while tending his 
flocks far from the house of God, on the sabbath 
day, a circumstance to which Grahame in his poem 
of the Sabbath, has touchingly referred, and which 
Telford has thus described : 

" Say how, by early lessons taught. 
Truth's pleasing air is willing caught ! 
Congenial to the untainted thought, 

The shepherd boy, 
Who tends his flocks on lonely height. 

Feels holy joy. 

♦ Letter to Robert Burns, by Mr. Telford, of Shrewsbury, a 
native of Scotland. 



28 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND, 

Is aught on earth so lovely known, 
On sabbath morn, and far alone. 
His guileless sou lall naked shown 

Before his God — 
Such prayers must welcome reach the throne 

And bless'd abode. 

O tell ! with what a heartfelt joy 
The parent eyes the virtuous boy ; 
And all his constant kind employ, 

Is how to give 
The best of lear he can enjoy, 

As means to live." 

The scenes of " the Cotter's Saturday Night," 
one of the sweetest poems m any language, are ex- 
act transcripts from real life, as Burns himself inti- 
mates. His father was " a godly man," and was 
wont, morning and evening, to " turn o'er, wi' patri- 
archal grace, the big ha' Bible," and worship God, 
with his family. Where in Italy or in Austria will 
you meet aught so beautiful or thrilling as the fol- 
lowing ? 

" The cheerfu' supper done, wP serious face, 
They round the ingle form a circle wide, 
The sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace 

The big ha^ Bible ance his father's pride : 
His bonnet reverently is laid aside. 

His lyart haffets^* wearing thin and bare : 
Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide 
He wales a portion with judicious care ; 
And ^ Let us worship God !' he says with solemn air. 

They chant their artless notes in simple guise. 
They tune their hearts, by far their noblest aim ; 

Perhaps Dundee^ s wild warbling measures rise, 
Or plaintive Martyrs worthy of the name, 



* Withered cheeks. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 29 

Or noble Elgin beats the heavenward flame, 

The sweetest far of Scotia' s holy lays. 
Compared with these Italian trills are tame ; 

The tickled ears no heartfelt raptures raise, 
Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise. 

The priest-like father reads the sacred page, 

How Abram was the friend of God on high, 
Or Moses bade eternal warfare wage 

With Amalek's ungracious progeny ; 
Or how the royal bard did groaning lie 

Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire ; 
Or Job's pathetic plaint and wailing cry ; 

Or rapt Isaiah's wild seraphic fire ; 
Or other holy seers that tune the sacred lyre. 

Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme : 

How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed , 
How He who bore in Heaven the second name, 

Had * not on earth whereon to lay his head j' 
How his first followers and servants sped ; 

The precepts sage they wrote to many a land : 
How he who lone in Patmos banished, 

Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand ; 
And heard great Babylon's doom pronounced by Heaven's 
command. 

Then kneeling down to Heaven's eternal King, 
The saint, the father, and the husband prays, 
Hope springs exulting on triumphant wing,' 
That thus they all shall meet in future days: 
There ever bask in uncreated rays, 

No more to sigh or shed the bitter tear, 
Together hymning their Creator's praise, 
In such society, yet still more dear ; 
While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere. 

Compared with this how poor religion's pride. 

In all the pomp of method and of art. 
When men display to congregations wide, 

Devotion's every grace except the heart j 
3* 



so GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

The Power incensed the pageant will desert, 
The pompous strain, the sacerdotal stole ; 
But haply in some cottage far apart, 

May hear well pleased the language of the soul, 
And in His book of life the inmates poor enroll.^' 

These are the elements of a people's greatness. 
These are the perennial sources of their ruth and 
loyalty, their freedom and virtue. These guard 
the domestic graces, these bind the commonwealth 
in holy and enduring bands. Better than splendid 
mausoleums and gorgeous temples, better than 
costly altars and a pompous ritual, better than 
organ blasts and rolling incense, better by far than 
mass and breviary, confessional and priestly abso- 
lution ! For while the most imposing forms of 
Religion are often heartless and dead, these sacred 
rites of a Christianity pure and practical, ever pos- 
sess a vital power, — a power to quicken and save. 

" From scenes like these auld Scotia's grandeur springs, 
That makes her loved at home, revered abroad ; 
Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, 
' An honest man 's the noblest work of God.' 

'Tr TT tP "3? •?? TiF 

O Scotia ! my dear, my native soil ! 

For whom my warmest wish to heaven is sent, 
Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil. 

Be blest with health and peace and sweet content ! 
And oh, may Heaven their simple lives prevent 

From luxury's contagion, weak and vile ! 
Then however crowns and coronets be rent, 

A virtuous populace may rise the while. 
And stand a wall of fire around their much loved Isle." 

But we have dwelt long enough on general 



GENIUS OP SCOTLAND. 31 

topics. If the reader will accompany us, we will 
ramble together in some particular scenes, medita- 
ting, as we go, on things new and old, and chat- 
ting, in lively or in sombre mood, as the humor 
may seize us. First of all then, let us visit " Auld 
Reekie," as the inhabitants often call it, or more 
classically, " the modern Athens," the beautiful and 
far famed metropoHs of Scotland. 



CHAPTER II. 

The city of Edinburgh— Views from Author's Seat— The Poems 
of Richard Gall—" Farewell to Ayrshire'^ — " Authur's Seat, a 
Poem"— Extracts— Craigmillar Castle— The Forth, Roslin 
Castle and the Pentland Hills — Liberty. 

We will enter the city on the west side, as if we 
were coming from Glasgow, pass through Prince's 
Street, with its elegant buildings and fine prome- 
nades, skirting that enclosure of walks and shrub- 
bery, just under the frowning battlements of the 
Castle, and adorned with the superb statue of Sir 
Walter Scott, rising rapidly to its completion ; 
then turn the corner at right-angles, cross the 
North Bridge, enter High Street, and thence 
plunge down the hill into the old Canongate ; and 
without waiting to look at " the Heart of Midlo- 
thian," or even the beautiful ruins of Holvrood 
House, at the foot of the hill, let us turn to the 
right, and climb the rocky sides of " Arthur's Seat," 
with its summit of verdure overlooking the city 
and the neighboring country. For there the whole 
panorama of the city will spread itself before us, 
surrounded with magnificent scenery, stretching 
far and wide from the Pentland Hills on the one 
side to the Firth of Forth on the other, from Stir- 
ling Castle on the west to the German Ocean on 
the east. Here we are then, on the very highest 
point of the mountain, with the warm sunshine 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 33 

around us, tempered as it is by the fresh " west- 
lin wind," at once so sweet and bland. Aye, aye ! 
this is beautiful ! What a landscape ! How varied 
and yet how harmonious ! Not only beautiful ex- 
ceedingly, but ineffably grand and striking ! Be- 
neath us is the fine old city— new and old at the 
same time, lying nearly square, with its lofty build- 
ings and elegant monuments, handsome parks and 
green shrubberies. To the left is the older part of 
the city, rising gradually from the palace of Holy- 
rood at our feet, and crowned by the Castle, which 
is built upon a granite rock, whose rough sides, 
terminating abruptly to the north and west, hang 
over Prince's Street and the lower part of the city. 

" There watching high the least alarms, 

Thy rough rude foi-tress gleams afar ; 
Like some bold veteran gray in arms 

And pierced with many a seamy scar : 
The ponderous wall and massy bar, 

Grim rising o'er the rugged rock ; 
Have oft withstood assailing war, 

And oft repelled the invader's shock." — Burns. 

Before us and stretching away towards the Forth 
and the city of Leith is " the new town," sur- 
mounted on this side by the Calton Hill, on which 
stand the monuments of Dugald Stewart and Ad- 
miral Nelson, the unfinished Parthenon, and the 
monument of Robert Burns, — beautiful and impos- 
ing objects, reminding us of the AcropoHs of Athens, 
and affording fine relief to the long ranges of 
smooth and polished buildings beyond. Behind us 



34 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

are the Pentland Hills with their verdant slopes 
and historic recollections. To the right lie the 
city and bay of Leith, " the Piraeus" of Edinburgh, 
the long winding shore in the direction of Porto- 
bello, and " the dark blue deep" of the ocean, stud- 
ded with white sails, glistening in the summer radi- 
ance. To the north, at a distance of a few miles, 
you see the majestic Firth of Forth, and beyond, 
" in cultur'd beauty," the " Kingdom of Fife," with 
the distant range of the Ochil and Campsie hills. 
From this point also you can see, at a distance of 
some three miles, the gray ruins of Craigmillar Cas- 
tle, famous in the annals of Scotland, as the resi- 
dence of Queen Mary, and the scene of those secret 
machinations, which ended in the tragedy of Holy- 
rood ; Inch Keith with its lofty lighthouse ; the 
isle of May, once consecrated to St. Adrian, and on 
which stands another " star of hope" to the mariner ; 
and old Inchcolm, famous for its ancient convent 
founded by St. Colomba, one of the patron saints 
of Scotland. How gloriously, light and shade, land 
and ocean, park and woodland, old castles and 
hoary ruins, frowning rocks and smiling meadows 
mingle and blend in this rare and magnificent land- 
scape. 

*' Traced like a map the landscape lies 
In cultur'd beauty stretching wide ; 
There Pentland's green acclivities, 

There ocean, with its azure tide ; * 

There Authur's Seat, and gleaming through 
Thy southern wing Dun Edin blue ! 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 35 

While in the orient, Lammer's daughters, 
A distant giant range are seen, ddd 

North Berwick Law, with cone of green, 

And Bass amid the waters.'^ Delta.^ 

Here you can easily understand the reason why 
Edinburgh has been thought to resemble the city 
of Athens. Mr. Stuart, author of the " Antiquities 
of Athens," was the first to call attention to this 
fact, and his opinion has often been confirmed since. 
Dr. Clarke remarks that the neighborhood of Athens 
is just the Highlands of Scotland, enriched with the 
splendid remains of art. Another acute observer 
states that the distant view of Athens from the 
iEgean Sea is extremely like that of Edinburgh 
from the Firth of Forth, " though," he adds, " cer- 
tainly the latter is considerably superior." " The 
resemblance," says J. G. Kohl, the celebrated Ger- 
man traveller, " is indeed very striking. Athens, 
like Edinburgh, was a city of hills and valleys, 
and its Ilissus was probably not much larger than 
the Water of Leith. Athens, like Edinburgh, was 
an inland town, and had its harbor, Piraeus, on 
the sea-coast. The mountains near Edinburgh very 
much resemble those near Athens. I have little 
doubt, however, that Athens is more honored by 
being compared to Edinburgh, than Edinburgh to 
Athens ; for it is probable that the scenery and po- 
sition of the Northern are more grand and striking 
in their beauty, than those of the Southern Athens.'* 

By the way there is a beautiful poem in the Scot- 
tish dialect, entitled " Arthur's Seat," written by 



* Supposed to be Dr. Moir. 



36 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Richard Gall, a young man of great promise, the 
friend and correspondent of Barns. He struggled 
with poverty, and like Furgusson and Michael 
Bruce, was cut off prematurely, but not before he 
had written some exquisite poems, in the style of 
Burns, whom he greatly admired. He was con- 
temporary with the unfortunate but gifted Tanna- 
hill of Paisley, and possessed a kindred taste in 
song writing.* His " Farewell to Ayrshire," com- 
mencing — 

" Scenes of woe and scenes of pleasure, 

Scenes that former thoughts renew ; 
Scenes of woe and scenes of pleasure, 

Now a sad and last adieu ! 
Bonnie Doon sae sweet at gloaming, 

Fare thee weel before I gang — 
Bonnie Doon where early roaming, 

First I weaved the rustic sang-' — 

has been often printed, on account of its locality 
and associations, as the composition of Burns. He 
is doubtless greatly inferior to Burns, and not quite 
equal to Bruce or even Tannahill, but his verses 
possess great sweetness, and contain some graphic 
and beautiful descriptions. This is the case espe- 
cially, with " Arthur's Seat," his longest and most 
elaborate poem. As its sketches of scenery in and 
around Edinburgh, are at once accurate and pleas- 
ing, and as it is entirely unknown in America, we 
will take the liberty of quoting some of its finest 
passages. 

^ Tannahill was a weaver in Paisley. He excelled in song 
writing. Under the pressure of poverty and deep depression of 
spirits he committed suicide, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 37 

Gazing from Arthur's Seat, the poet invokes the 
genius of Burns — 

" To sing ilk bonny bushy bower, 
Adorned with many a wild-born flower j 
Ilk burnie singing through the vale. 
Where blooming hawthorns scent the gale ; 
And ilka sweet that nature yields, 
In meadow wild or cultur'd fields ; 
The cultur'd fields where towering Strang 
The sturdy aik his shadows flang; 
Where lonely Druids wont to roTe, 
The mystic tenants of the grove.'^ 

He aptly and strikingly interweaves historical 
and poetical allusions. The following contains a 
fine contrast, and a striking description of the ruins 
of Craigmillar Castle, in the vicinity of Edinburgh. 

" Yes, Arthur, round thy velvet chair, 
Ilk chequered picture blushes fair, 
And mixed with nature's landscape green, 
The varied works o' art are seen. 
Here starts the splendid dome to view, 
Mang sylvan haunts o' vernal hue ; 
There some auld lanely pile appears, 
The mouldering wreck o' former years, 
Whose tottering wa' nae mair can stand 
Before fell Time's resistless hand ; 
Sic as Craigmillar's Castle gray. 
That now fa's crumbling to decay, 
A prey to ilka blast that blaws 
An' whistles through its royal ha's — 
Where mirth ance burst with joyf u' sound 
And melting music rang around. 
Ah ! there dull gloomy silence reigns. 
The mossy grass creeps o'er the stanes, 
And howlets loud at e'enin's fa'. 
Rejoice upon the ruined wa'." 

4 



38 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Craigmillar Castle naturally suggests the name 
of the beautiful and unfortunate Mary, Queen of 
Scots, who once resided within its lordly but now 
forsaken halls. The poet therefore breaks out into 
the following animated and pathetic strains, which, 
it has been said, will bear a comparison with Mr- 
Burke's celebrated rhapsody on the unfortunate 
Queen of France. 

" Tliere was a time wlien woman's cliarms 
Could fire the warlike world of arms. 
And breed sic wae to auld and young, 
As Helen wept and Homer sung, 
But Mary o' ilk stay bereft, 
Misfortune^s luckless child was left ; 
Nae guileless friend to stem her grief, 
The bursting sigh her whole relief. — 
O ye whose brave forefathers bled, 
And oft the rage of battle led, 
Wha rushing o'er the crimson field, 
At Bannockburn made Edward yield ; 
Ye wha still led by glory's flame. 
Make terror mix wP Scotia's name — 
Where slept your dauntless valor keen 
When danger met your injured Glueen ?" 

His descriptions of the Forth and the neighbor- 
ing regions, of the Pentland hills, and the scenery 
of the Esk, are strikingly beautiful. 

" What varied scenes, what prospects deai 
In chequer'd landscape still appear ! 
What rural sweets profusely thrang 
The flowery Links of Forth alang, 
O'er whose proud shivering surface blue 
Fife's woods and spires begirt the view ; 
Where Ceres gilds the fertile plain 
An' richly waves the yellow grain, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 39 

An' Lomond hill wi' misty showers, 
Aft weets anld Falkland's royal towers, 
Nor distant far, upon the ear 
The popling Leven wimples clear, 
Whose ruined pile and glassy lake 
Shall live in sang for Mary's sake.=^ 

TV TV TV T? TT 

Return fond muse frae haunts sae fair, 
To Lothian's shore return ance mair, 
And let thy lyre be sweetly strung, 
For peerless Esk remains unsung. 
Romantic stream, what sweets combine 
To deck ilk bank and bower o' thine ! 
For now the sun, wi' cheerfu' rays 
Glows soft o'er a' thy woody braes. 
Where mony a native wild flower's seen, 
Mang birks and briars, and ivy green, 
An' a' the woodland chorists sing 
Or gleesome flit on wanton wing, 
Save where the liiitie mournfully 
Sabs sair 'aneath the rowan tree, 
To see her nest and young ones a' 
By thoughtless reaver borne awa.' 

TV* •tP TV TV TT 

What saftening thoughts resistless start, 
And pour their influence o'er the heart ; 
What mingling scenes around appear 
To musing meditation dear. 
When wae we tent fair grandeur fa' 
By Roslin's ruined Castle wa' If 
O what is pomp ? and what is power ? 
The silly phantoms of an hour ! 
Sae loudly ance from Roslin's browj 
The martial trump of grandeur blew, 

^ The reference here is to the residence, or rather imprison- 
ment of Mary in Lochleven Castle. 

t Roslin Castle, on the banks of the Esk, about seven miles 
from Edinburgh. 

I Brow^ in Scotland, is often pronounced as if spelt bru€. 



40 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

While steel-clad vassals wont to wait 
Their chieftain at the portalled gate j 
And maidens fair, in vestments gay. 
Bestrewed wP flowers the warrior^s way. 
But now, ah me I how changed the scene ! 
Nae trophied ha', nae towers remain ; 
Nae torches bleeze wP gladsome light, 
A guiding star in dead o' night ; 
Nae voice is heard, save tinkling rill, 
That echoes from the distant hill." 

How exquisite, and how entirely and peculiarly 
Scottish is the following : 

" Now tent the Pentlands westlin's seen, 
O'erspread wP flowery pastures green ; 
"Where, stretching wide, the fleecy ewes^ 
Run bleating round the sunny knowes, 
And mony a little silver rill 
Steals gurgling down its mossy hill ; 
And vernal green is ilka tree 
On bonny braes o' Woodhouselee.'^ 

The genius of Scotland is one of freedom, of 
independent thought, and unfettered action in mat- 
ters civil and religious. This produced the Re- 
formation ; this generated the recent secession from 
the ' Kirk ;' this characterizes the literature of the 
nation. We cannot, therefore, refrain from making 
one more quotation, which breathes the lofty spirit 
of freedom : 

^' Alas ! sic objects to behold. 
Brings back the glorious days of old, 
When Scotia's daring gallant train. 
That ever spurned a tyrant's chain. 



* En-eSj pronounced as if it were yorves. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 41 

For dearest independence bled, 

And nobly filled their gory bed — 

So o'er yon mountains stretching lang, 

Their shields the sons of Freedom rang, 

When Rome's ambition wild, burst forth, 

An' roused the warriors of the north, 

When Calgach urged his dauntless train, 

And freedom rush'd through ilka vein, 

And close they met the haughty foe. 

And laid fu' mony a tyrant low ; 

As fierce they fought, like freemen a', 

Oh ! glorious fought — yet fought to fa' ! 

They fell, and thou sweet Libi^bty, 

Frae Grampia's blood-stained heights did flee, 

And fixed thy seat remote, serene, 

Mang Caledonia's mountains green. 

Fair Maid ! O may thy saftest smile 

For ever cheer my native isle !" 



CHAPTER III. 

Walk to the Castle — The old Wynds and their Occupants — 
Regalia of Scotland — Storming of the Castle — Views from its 
Summit — Heriot's Hospital — Other Hospitals — St. Giles's Ca- 
thedral — Changes — The Spirit of Protestantism. 

Let us now descend into the city. We will not 
linger long in old Holyrood Palace, interesting as 
it is, nor dwell upon " the stains" of Rizzio's blood 
in Queen Mary's room, as these have been de- 
scribed a thousand times, and are familiar to every 
one. Neither will we spend time in gazing upon 
the spot where once stood that quaint old gaol, 
called " The Heart of Midlothian," made classic by 
the pen of Scott, in the beautiful story of Jeanie 
Deans. Neither will we visit the old " Parliament 
House" and the " Advocates' Library ;" but we will 
pass right up through High Street, amid those co- 
lossal buildings, rising, on either side, to the height 
of six, seven, and even eight and ten stories, swarm- 
ing with inhabitants ; and dive into one or two of 
those close, dark wynds, where reside, in countless 
multitudes, the poorest and most vicious of the peo- 
ple. Here, it must be confessed, are some strange 
sights and appalling noises. Yet it is not quite so 
bad as some have represented it. All large cities 
have their poor and vicious inhabitants, and al- 
though those of the Scottish metropolis are tolera- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 43 

bly dirty and vastly degraded, they bear no com- 
parison to the lazzaroni of Naples and the beggars 
of Rome. Some of the streets and wynds are nar- 
row enough and vile enough, but they contain, after 
all, many worthy people, who own a Bible, and 
read it too ; and were you only to become tho- 
roughly acquainted with them, you would be sur- 
prised to find how much of honesty and kindly 
affection still dwell in their hearts. In ancient 
times the houses in these very " closes" or " wynds" 
were inhabited by the nobility and gentry. Hence 
Grey's Close, Morrison's Close, Stewart's Close, &c. 
They built their houses in these narrow streets in 
order to be more secure from the attacks of their 
enemies, and to be the better able to defend the 
principal thoroughfares into which they opened. 
In Blythe's Close may be seen the remains of the 
palace of the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise. In 
another stand the old houses of the Earls of Gosford 
and Moray. One of the largest old palaces is 
now inhabited by beggars and rats. 

It would be a great improvement if these misera- 
ble dwellings could be removed, and replaced by 
better streets and houses ; a still greater one, if the 
people could only be induced to abandon the use of 
whiskey, for then they would abandon their hovels 
as a matter of course. Their besetting sin is the 
love of strong drink, though this has been gradually 
diminishing for tlie last few years throughout Scot- 
land. It is to be hoped that the pious and moral 
portion of the community will unite in a strong 
effort to reclaim this degraded class of their fellow- 



44 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

townsmen, and that the time will speedily come 
when the only reproach which rests upon their 
fair fame shall be wholly obliterated. 

But let us leave this region, the only unpleasant 
one in the whole of this magnificent city, and ascend 
to the old Castle, where we shall see the Regalia 
of Scotland, preserved in a little room at the top of 
the Castle. These regalia consist of the crown of 
Robert Bruce the hero of Bannockburn, the scep- 
tre of James the Fifth, a sword presented by Pope 
Julius the Second to James the Sixth, and other 
articles of inferior note. It is somewhat singular 
that the Regalia should have lain concealed from 
1745 to the year 1818. At the time of the Union 
in 1707 between England and Scotland, they were 
walled up by some Scottish patriots, in order to 
prevent their being removed to London. 

What recollections of the stormy but glorious 
history of Scotland cluster around the mind, while 
gazing at that antique-looking crown w^hich adorned 
the head of the Bruces and the ill-fated Mary. 
The freedom and prosperity now enjoyed by the 
nation had a gloomy and tempestuous birth. Their 
very religion, placid and beautiful now, was cra- 
dled amid the war of elements and the shock of 
battle. But, thanks to God, it is all the purer and 
stronger for its rough and tempestuous youth. 

Draw near to the edge of that battlement, and 
look down over the frowning rock. Would it be 
possible, think you, to storm the Castle from that 
side ? One would suppose it beyond the power of 
man. It has been done, however, and the circum- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 45 

stance illustrates the spirit of hardihood and enter- 
prise which has ever distinguished the people of 
Scotland. In the vear 1313, when the Castle was 
in the possession of the English, Randolph, Earl of 
Moray, was one day surveying the gigantic rock, 
when he was accosted by one of his men at arms 
with the question, " Do you think it impractica- 
ble, my lord ?" Randolph turned his eyes upon the 
speaker, a man a little past the prime of hfe, but of 
a firm well-knit figure, and bearing in his keen eye 
and open forehead marks of intrepidity which had 
already gained him distinction in the Scottish army. 
" Do you mean the rock, Francis ?" said the Earl ; 
" perhaps not, if we could borrow the wings of our 
gallant hawks."* 

" There are wings," replied Francis, with a 
thoughtful smile, "as strong, as buoyant, and as 
daring. My father was keeper of yonder for- 
tress." 

" What of that? You speak in riddles." 

" I was then young, reckless, high-hearted : I 
was screwed up in that convent-like castle ; my 
sweetheart was in the plain below" — 

" Well, what then ?" 

" 'Sdeath, my lord, can you not imagine that I 
speak of the wings of love ? Every night I de- 
scended that steep at the witching hour, and every 
morning before the dawn I crept back to my bar- 



^ We give the version of Leitch RitchiOj who has thrown the 
facts into the form of a dialogue, and given a false name to the 
hero \ otherwise the narration is entirely authentic. 



46 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

racks. I constructed a light twelve-foot ladder, by 
means of which I was able to pass the places that 
are perpendicular ; and so well, at length, did I be- 
come acquainted with the route, that in the darkest 
and stormiest night, I found my way as easily as 
when the moonlight enabled me to see my love in 
the distance waiting for me at the cottage door." 

" You are a daring, desperate, noble fellow, 
Francis ! However, your motive is now gone ; 
your mistress" — 

" She is dead ; say no more ; but another has 
taken her place." 

"Ay, ay, it's the soldier's way. Women will die 
or even grow old ; and what are we to do ? Come, 
who is your mistress now ?" 

"My Country ! What I have done for love, I 
can do again for honor ; and what I can accom- 
pUsh, you, noble Randolph, and many of our com- 
rades can do far better. Give me thirty picked 
men, and a twelve-foot ladder, and the fortress is 
our own !" 

" The Earl of Moray, whatever his real thoughts 
of the enterprise might have been, was not the man 
to refuse such a challenge. A ladder was provided, 
and thirty men chosen from the troops ; and in the 
middle of a dark night, the party, commanded by 
Randolph himself, and guided by William Francis, 
set forth on their desperate enterprise. 

"By catching at crag after crag, and digging 
their fingers into the interstices of the rocks, they 
succeeded in mounting a considerable way ; but 
the weather was now so thick, they could receive 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 47 

but little assistance from their eyes ; and thus they 
continued to climb, almost in utter darkness, like 
men struggling up a precipice in the night-mare. 
They at length reached a shelving table of the 
cliff, above which the ascent, for ten or tw^elve feet, 
was perpendicular ; and having fixed their ladder, 
the whole party lay down to recover breath. 

" From this place they could hear the tread and 
voices of the ' check watches,' or patrol, above ; 
and, surrounded by the perils of such a moment, it 
is not wonderful that some illusions may have min- 
gled with their thoughts. They even imagined 
that they were seen from the battlements, although, 
being themselves unable to see the warders, this 
was highly improbable. It became evident, not- 
withstanding, from the words they caught here and 
there in the pauses of the night- wind, that the con- 
versation of the English soldiers above related to a 
surprise of the Castle ; and at length these apalling 
words broke like thunder on their ears : ' Stand ! 
I see you well !' A fragment of the rock was 
hurled down at the same instant ; and as rushing 
from crag to crag it bounded over their heads, 
Randolph and his brave followers, in this wild, 
helpless, and extraordinary situation, felt the damp 
of mortal terror gathering upon their brow, as they 
clung with a death-grip to the precipice. 

" The startled echoes of the rock were at length 
silent, and so were the voices above. The adven- 
turers paused, listening breathless ; no sound was 
heard but the sighing of the wind, and the mea- 
sured tread of the sentinel who had resumed his 



48 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

walk. The men thought they were in a dream, 
and no wonder ; for the mcident just mentioned, 
which is related by Barbour, was one of the most 
singular coincidences that ever occurred. The 
shout of the sentinel and the missile he had thrown, 
were merely a boyish freak ; and while listening to 
the echoes of the rock, he had not the smallest idea 
that the sounds which gave pleasure to him carried 
terror and almost despair into the hearts of the 
enemy. 

" The adventurers, half uncertain whether they 
were not the victims of some illusion, determined 
that it was as safe to go on as to turn back ; and 
pursuing their laborious and dangerous path, they 
at length reached the bottom of the wall. This 
last barrier they scaled by means of their ladder ; 
and leaping down among the astonished check- 
watches, they cried their war-cry, and in the 
midst of answering shouts of ' treason ! treason !' 
notwithstanding the desperate resistance of the 
garrison, captured the Castle of Edinburgh." 

Sit down here on the edge of this parapet. That 
huge cannon there is called Mons Meg, from being 
cast at Mons, in Flanders, and reminds us, some- 
what significantly, of the terrible use to which all 
the arrangements of the Castle are appHed.* How 
singular, that men have to be governed and con- 
trolled like bull-dogs, that castles and dungeons, 
halters, and cannon, are necessary to keep them 



"* At present it is used as a barracks for soldiers and a maga- 
zine of arms. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 49 

from stealing each other's property, or cutting each 
other's throats ! Surely mankind have ills enough 
to bear without turning upon each other like 
tigers. 

^* Many and sharp the numerous ills, 
Inwoven with our frame ! 
More pointed still we make ourselves, 

Regret, remorse, and shame ; 
And man, w^hose heaven-erected face 

The smiles of love adorn, 
Man's inhumanity to man 
Makes countless thousands mourn." 

Burns. 

But all is quiet now. The tendency of the times is 
to peace ; and Edinburgh Castle, Mons Meg, and 
the whole array of cannon bristling over the preci- 
pice, are but objects of natural curiosity or of po- 
etical interest. 

Do you see yonder turreted building, with high 
pointed gables and castellated walls, in the EHza- 
bethan style, just beyond the North Bridge. That 
is George Heriot's Hospital, one of the proudest 
monuments of the city, and one of the most beauti- 
ful symbols of its peaceful prosperity. It was foun- 
ded by the rich and benevolent George Heriot, 
jeweller to King James the Sixth, " Jingling Geor- 
die," as he is quaintly termed in the '* Fortunes of 
Nigel." It is of vast extent, as you perceive, and 
presents a good specimen of the mixed style of 
architecture prevalent in the days of Queen Mary. 
The object of this noble institution is the mainte- 
nance and education of poor and fatherless boys, or 
of boys in indigent circumstances, " freemen's sons 

5 



50 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

of the town of Edinburgh." Of these, one hundred 
and eighty receive ample board and education 
within its walls. By this means they are tho- 
roughly prepared for the active business of Ufe, 
each receiving at his dismissal a Bible, and other 
useful books, with two suits of clothes chosen by 
himself Those going out as apprentices are al- 
lowed $50 per annum for five years, and $25 at the 
termination of their apprenticeship. Boys of supe- 
rior scholarship are permitted to stay longer in the 
institution, and are fitted for college. For this 
purpose they receive $150 per annum, for four 
years. Connected with this institution are seven 
free schools, in the different parishes of the city, for 
the support of which its surplus funds are applied. 
In these upwards of two thousand children receive 
a good common school education. The girls, in 
addition to the ordinary branches, are taught knit- 
ting and sewing. 

In addition to these provisions for the education 
of the poor, there are also ten "bursaries," or uni- 
versity scholarships, open to the competition of 
young men, not connected with the institution. 
The successful candidates receive $100 per annum 
for four years. No w^onder that Sir Walter Scott 
felt authorized to put into the mouth of the princely 
founder of these charities the striking sentiment : 
" I think mine own estate and memorv, as I shall 
order it, has a fair chance of outliving those of 
greater men." 

Edinburgh abounds in charitable hospitals, and 
particularly in free educational institutions, in the 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 51 

support of which the citizens evince a laudable 
enthusiasm. Thus, for exanjple, we have Watson's 
Hospital, the Merchant Maiden's Hospital, the 
Trades' Maiden Hospital, Trinity College Hospital, 
Cauvin's Hospital, a little out of the city ; Gilles- 
pie's Hospital, Donaldson's Hospital, Chalmers's 
Hospital, the House of Refuge, the House of Indus- 
try, the Strangers' Friend Society, the Institution 
for the Relief of poor old Men, and another for the 
Relief of indigent old Women, and many others. 

Below us, on one side of High Street, you see 
the fine old Go-thic Cathedral of St. Giles. It was 
founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century, and 
named after St. Giles, abbot and confessor, and 
tutelar saint of Edinburgh in the olden time. The 
Scottish poet, Gavin Douglas, bishop of Dunkeld, 
was sometime provost of St. Giles. He translated 
Virgil into Enghsh, the first version of a classic 
ever made in Britain, and was the author of " The 
Palace of Honor," from which some have absurdly 
supposed that John Bunyan borrowed the idea of 
the " Pilgrim's Progress." This edifice is interest- 
ing, chiefly as connecting the past with the present 
condition of Scotland, and indicating the mighty 
transitions through which it has passed. In the 
fifteenth century incense ascended from forty dif- 
ferent altars within its walls ; now it contains three 
Protestant places of worship. Once it enshrined 
the relics of St. Giles ; now its cemetery contains 
the body of John Knox ! On the 13th of October, 
1643, " the solemn League and Covenant" was sworn 
to and subscribed within its walls, by the Commit- 



52 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

tee of the Estates of Parliament, the Commission of 
the Church, and the EngHsh Commission. The 
sacred vessels and reUcs which it contained, in- 
cluding the arm-bone of the patron saint, were 
seized by the magistrates of the city, and the pro- 
ceeds of their sale appUed to the repairing of the 
building. Puritanism has thus often showed itself 
a rough and tempestuous reformer ; nevertheless 
it possesses wonderful vitality, and has conferred 
upon Scotland the blessings of civil and religious 
liberty. Its outer form is often hard and defective, 
and its movements irregular and convulsive, but its 
inner spirit is ever generous and free. Its rudeness 
and excess none will approve ; its life, energy, and 
activity, all will admire. It came forth, like a 
thunder-cloud, from the mountains. Its quick light- 
ning-flashes went crashmg amid the old images of 
papal worship. The atmosphere of spiritual pollu- 
tion was agitated and purified. Upon the parched 
ground fell gentle and refreshing showers. The 
sun of freedom began to smile upon hill and valley, 
and the whole land rejoiced under its placid in- 
fluence. 



CHAPTER IV. 

John Knox^s House — History of tlie Reformer — His Character— 
Carlyle's View — Testimony of John Milton. 

Let us now descend from the Castle, and, pass- 
ing down High Street, turn to the right, at the 
head of the Nether-bow, where we shall see the 
house of that stern but glorious old reformer, John 
Knox. There it is, looking mean enough now 
among those miserable gin-shops, paint-shops, and 
so forth ; yet hallowed by the recollections of the 
past. Over the door is an inscription, invisible 
from the numerous sign-boards that cover it, con- 
taining the spirit and essence of that lofty Puritan- 
ism which Knox preached : 

" LUFE . GOD . ABOVE . ALL . AND . YOUR . NICHBOUR . 
AS . YOURSELF." 

In this house Knox lived many years ; here also 
he died in holy triumph; and from that httle win- 
dow he is said frequently to have addressed the 
populace. A rude stone effigy of the Reformer may 
be seen at the corner, and near it, cut in the stone, 
the name of God, in Greek, Latin, and English. It 
is gratifying to know that measures have recently 
been taken to erect a monument to Knox, near this 
spot, which shall be worthy of his memory. 

The character of Knox has been terribly black- 
ened by heartless and infidel historians, and espe- 

5# 



54 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

cially by sickly sentimentalists of the Werter school. 
Nevertheless, he was a noble-hearted, truth-loving, 
sham-hating, God-fearing, self-sacrificing man; a 
hero in the proper sense of the word, a minister of 
righteousness, an angel of Reform. Not, indeed, a 
soft, baby-faced, puling sentimentalist ; but a lofty, 
iron-hearted man, who "never feared the face of 
clay," and did God's will, in spite of devils, popes, 
and kings. His history possesses the deepest and 
most romantic interest. It is one of the most mag- 
nificent passages in Scottish story. Bruce battled 
for a crown; Knox battled for the truth. Both 
conquered, after long toils and struggles ; and con- 
quered mainly by the might of their single arm. 
But the glory which irradiates the head of the Re- 
former far outshines that of the hero of Bannock- 
burn, for the latter is earthly and evanescent ; the 
former celestial and immortal. 

John Knox was born in Haddington, not far from 
Edinburgh, of poor but honest parents, in the year 
1505; grew up in sohtude ; was destined for the 
church ; received a thorough collegiate education ; 
became an honest friar ; wore the monk's cowl for 
many years ; adopted silently and unostentatiously 
the principles of the Protestant Reformation ; spent 
much of his time in teaching, and in the prosecution 
of liberal studies, of which he was considered a 
master ; was suddenly and unexpectedly called, at 
St. Andrews, by the unanimous voice of his bre- 
thren, to the preaching of the Word, and the de- 
fence of their religious liberties ; after a brief strug- 
gle with himself yielded to the call, nobly threw 



GENIUS OP SCOTLAND. 55 

himself into the breach, at the hazard of his hfe, 
attacked "Papal idolatry" with unsparing vigor, 
was seized by the authorities, and sent a prisoner 
to France in 1547, where he worked in the galleys 
as a slave, but evermore maintaining his lofty cou- 
rage and cheerful hope; was set at liberty two 
years afterwards: preached in England in the time 
of Edward the Sixth ; refused a bishopric from the 
best of kings ; retired to the continent at the acces- 
sion of Mary, residing chiefly at Geneva and Frank- 
fort; returned to Scotland in 1555; labored with 
indomitable perseverance to establish Protestant- 
ism ; rebuked the great for immorality, profaneness 
and rapacity, and succeeded in greatly strengthen- 
ing the cause of truth and freedom. At the earnest 
soUcitation of the English congregation in Geneva, 
he went thither a second time ; there he published 
" The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Mon- 
strous Regiment (Government) of Women," directed 
principally against Mary, Queen of England, and 
Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland, two narrow- 
minded miserable despots ; returned to Scotland in 
1559; continued his exertions in behalf of Christ's 
truth ; did much to establish common schools ; finally 
saw Protestantism triumphant in Scotland ; and died 
in 1572, so poor that his family had scarce sufficient 
to bury him, but with the universal love and homage 
of his countrymen, a conscience void of offence, and 
a hope full of immortality. " He had a sore fight 
of an existence ; wrestling with popes and prin- 
cipalities ; in defeat, contention, life-long strug- 
gle ; rowing as a galley-slave, wandering as an 



56 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

exile. A sore fight, but he won it. * Have you 
hope V they asked him in his last moment when he 
could no longer speak. He lifted his finger, ' pointed 
upwards with his finger,' and so died. Honor to 
him ! His works have not died. The letter of his 
work dies, as of all men's ; but the spirit of it 
never."* 

Knox has been much abused for his violent treat- 
ment of Queen Mary. His addresses and appeals 
to her have been characterized as impudent and 
cruel ; but, thoroughly inspected, they will be 
found the reverse. Strong and startling they were, 
but neither impudent nor cruel. Doubtless they 
fell upon her ear like the tones of some old pro- 
phet, sternly rebuking sin, or vindicating the rights 
of God. Mary was a woman of matchless beauty ; 
and had she been educated differently, might have 
blessed the world with the mild lustre of her Scot- 
tish reign ; but she was the dupe of bad counsels, in 
spirit and practice a despot, the plaything of pas- 
sion, and the reckless opposer of the best interests 
of her country. Her beauty and sufferings have 
shed a false lustre over her character ; above all, 
have aided in concealing the terrible stain of infi- 
delity to her marriage vows, and the implied mur- 
der of her wretched husband, charges which her 
apologists can extenuate, but not deny. But, for- 
sooth, it is an insufferable thing for a plain honest- 
hearted man like John Knox to tell the truth to 
such an one ! She was young, beautiful, fascinating ; 

* Carlyle— "Hero Worship," p. 174. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 57 

and however recklessly, madly, ruinously wrong, 
he must not advise her — above all, must not warn 
her ! Now, such a notion may possibly commend 
itself to your " absolute gentlemen, of very soft so- 
ciety, full of most excellent differences and great 
showing ; indeed, to speak feelingly of them, who 
are the card and calendar of gentry ;" but it cannot 
be imposed upon our plain common sense. Mary was 
a queen, however, and John Knox a poor plebeian ! 
Aye, aye ! that is a difficulty ! Kings and queens 
may do what they please. The people are made 
for them, not they for the people. And sure enough 
it is a vulgar thing to oppose them in their ambi- 
tious schemes, or to tell them the honest truth be- 
times ! Poor John Knox ! thou must fall down and 
worship " a painted bredd" after all. A beautiful 
queen must be spared, if Scotland should perish. 
But looking at the matter from the free atmosphere 
of New England, we maintain that John Knox was 
of higher rank than Mary Queen of Scots. He 
was more true, more heroic, more kingly, than all 
the race of the Stuarts. He had a right, in God's 
name, to speak the truth, " to reprove, rebuke, and 
exhort, with all long-suffering." Hence, though his 
words were stern and appalling, they were uttered 
with a kind and generous intention. " Madame," 
said Knox, when he saw Mary burst into tears 
from vexation and grief, " in God's presence I 
speak ; I never delighted in the weeping of any of 
God's creatures, yea, / can scarcely well abide the 
tears of mine own boys, when mine own hands cor- 
rect them, much less can I rejoice in your Majesty's 



58 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

weeping ; but seeing I have offered unto you no 
just occasion to be offended, I must sustain your 
Majesty's tears, rather than I dare hurt my con- 
science, or betray the commonwealth by silence." 

Yes, he was a stern old puritan, a lion of a man, 
who made terrible havoc among the "painted 
bredds" of Popery, and turned back the fury of 
wild barons and persecuting priests. " His single 
voice," says Randolph, " could put more life into a 
host than six hundred blustering trumpets." Single 
handed, he met the rage of a disappointed govern- 
ment and an infuriated priesthood, and conquered 
by the silent might of his magnanimous audacity. 
In the wildest whirl of contending emotion, he 
never lost sight of the great end of his being, as a 
servant of God, nor swerved a hair's breadth from 
truth and right. 

Yet this stern old Covenanter was not with- 
out a touch of gentleness and even of hilarity. 
He loved his home, his children, and his friends. 
An honest, quiet laugh often mantled his pale ear- 
nest visage. " They go far wrong," says Carlyle, 
whose thorough appreciation of such men as Lu- 
ther, Cromwell, and Knox, is truly refreshing 
amid the vapid inanities or coarse prejudices of 
ordinary historians, " who think that Knox was a 
gloomy, spasmodic, shrieking fanatic. Not at all. 
He is one of the soUdest of men. Practical, cau- 
tious, hopeful, patient ; a most shrewd, observing, 
quietly discerning man. In fact, he has very much 
the type of character we assign to the Scotch at 
present : a certain sardonic taciturnity is in him ; 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 59 

insight enough ; and a stouter heart than he himself 
knows of. * * An honest-hearted, brotherly man ; 
brother to the high, brother also to the low ; sincere 
in his sympathy with both." 

Knox, doubtless, had his faults ; and what of 
that ? He made some mistakes ! and what, too, of 
that ? Was he not a true man, and a true minister 
of God's Word ? Did he not accomplish a great 
and beneficial work of Reform ; and, having done 
this, did he not die a sweet and triumphant death ? 
God has set his seal upon him, and upon his work ; 
and that is enough for us. 

We hesitate not, with Carlyle, to name the Re- 
formation under Knox as the great era in Scottish 
history, as the one glorious event which gave life 
to the nation. Thence resulted freedom, activity, 
purity of morals, science, national and individual 
greatness. Previous to this event Scotland pos- 
sessed only a rough, tumultuous physical life ; her 
politics — dissensions and executions; her religion — 
a puerile superstition ; — her literature — ballads and 
monkish legends ; her joy — hunting, fighting, and 
drinking ! But the Reformation breathed into her 
the breath of a spiritual existence. Her national 
prosperity dates from that era. Thence proceeded 
faith and order, education, industry, and wealth. 
" It was not a smooth business ; but it was welcome 
surely, and cheap at that price, had it been far 
rougher. On the whole, cheap at any price, as life 
is. The people began to live ; they needed first of 
all to do that, at what cost and costs soever. Scot- 
tish literature and thought, Scotch industry, James 



60 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Watt, David Hume, Walter Scott, Robert Burns : 
I find Knox and the Reformation acting in the 
heart's core of every one of these persons and phe- 
nomena ; I find that, without the Reformation, they 
would not have been. Or what of Scotland ? The 
Puritanism of Scotland became that of England, 
of New England. A tumult in the High Church of 
Edinburgh spread into a universal battle and strug- 
gle over all these realms ; and there came out of it, 
after fifty years' struggling, what we all call ' the 
Glorious Revolution,' a Habeas Corpus Act, Free 
Pariiaments, and much else." 

It has become fashionable of late, in certain 
quarters, to undervalue the Reformation, and con- 
temn those great and rugged spirits by whom it 
was accomplished. A sentimental, baby-hearted, 
superstition-smitten generation, cannot appreciate 
those mighty men, and mightier reforms of the olden 
time. But how well and worthily does the large- 
hearted and ethereal Milton speak of it : " When 
I recall to mind, at last, after so many dark ages, 
wherein the huge over-shadowing train of error 
had almost swept all the stars out of the firmament 
of the church ; how the bright and blissful Refor- 
mation, by Divine power, struck through the black 
and settled night of ignorance and anti-Christian 
tyranny, methinks a sovereign and reviving joy 
must needs rush into the bosom of him that reads or 
hears, and the sweet odor of the returning Gospel 
imbathe his soul with the fragrancy of Heaven. 
Then was the sacred Bible sought out of the dusty 
corners, where profane falsehood and neglect had 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 61 

thrown it, the schools opened, divine and human 
learning raked out of the embers of forgotten 
tongues ; the princes and cities trooping apace to 
the new-erected banner of salvation ; the martyrs, 
with the unresistible might of weakness, shaking 
the powers of darkness, and scorning the fiery rage 
of the red old dragon."* A noble testimony like 
this far outweighs all the cant of a whining senti- 
mentalism. Its truth, as well as its eloquence, all 
must admit. 

^ '' Of Reformation in England.'^ By John Milton. 



CHAPTER V. 

Edinburgh University — Professor Wilson— His Life and 
Writings, Genius and Character. 

We will now re-enter High Street, and thence 
turn at right angles into South-bridge Street, and 
proceed to the University. It is a large and im- 
posing structure, but fails to produce its proper 
impression from the circumstance of being wedged 
in among such a mass of other buildings. We 
enter by a magnificent portico on the right, sup- 
ported by Doric columns, twenty-six feet in height, 
each formed of a single block of stone, and find 
ourselves in a spacious quadrangular court, sur- 
rounded by the various college edifices. The build- 
ings are of free stone, beautifully polished, and of 
recent erection, the old buildings, which were un- 
sightly and incommodious, having been taken down 
to make way for this elegant and spacious struc- 
ture. The University itself was founded by King 
James the Sixth, in the year 1582, and has enjoyed 
uninterrupted prosperity to the present time. The 
average number of students is from ten to twelve 
hundred. The Rev. Dr. Lee, one of the most ami- 
able and learned men, is at present Principal of the 
University, and the various chairs are filled by 
gentlemen of distinguished talent. The students are 
not resident within the college, but choose their 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 63 

boarding-houses, at pleasure, in any part of the 
city. They are not distinguished, as at Glasgow 
and Oxford by any peculiar badge ; are of all ages, 
and enjoy the liberty of selecting the classes which 
they attend. Those however who take degrees 
are required to attend a particular course, but this 
is not done by more than one-half or at most two- 
thirds of the students. The government of the 
University is not particularly strict. The exam- 
inations are Hmited and imperfect ; and hence it 
is very possible for a young man to slip through 
the University, without contracting any great tinc- 
ture of scholarship. It is mainly the talent of the 
professors, and the high literary enthusiasm they 
inspire, which sustain the institution. There are 
thirty-four foundations for bursaries or scholarships, 
the benefit of which is extended to eighty students. 
The aggregate amount is about filty dollars a year, 
for each. The Annual Session lasts from October 
to May, with an occasional holiday, and a week or 
two's vacation at Christmas. The rest of the year 
which includes most of the summer and autumn is 
vacation, which gives the professors an opportunity 
for rest and preparation, and the students facilities 
either for private study, or for teaching and other 
employments. This order prevails in all the other 
Scottish Universities, and is attended with many 
advantages. But a truce to general remarks. 

We have not time to visit the Museum, which is 
quite extensive and admirably arranged, nor the 
Library, which is distinguished by its ample dimen- 
sions and beautiful decorations. Neither can we 



64 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

dwell upon the celebrated men who have encircled 
this Institution with a halo of literary and scientific 
glory. But we will step into that door in front of 
us, ascend the stairs, and enter the lecture-room of 
Professor Wilson, the far famed " Christopher 
North," poet and novelist, orator, critic and phi- 
losopher. The young gentlemen have assembled, 
but the Professor has not yet come in. Good look- 
ing but noisy fellows these ! Some of them, you 
perceive, are very young, others are considerably 
advanced in years. Most of them are well dressed, 
some poorly so. A few look studious and care- 
worn, but the majority hearty and joyous. How 
their clear loud laugh rings through the hall ! They 
are from all ranks of society, some being the sons 
of noblemen, others of farmers and mechanics. 
Most of them probably have wherewithal to pay 
their college expenses, but not a few, you may rely 
on it, are sorely pinched. The Scots are an ambi- 
tious, study-loving race, and quite a number of these 
young men are struggling up from the depths of 
poverty ; and if they do not die in the effort, will 
be heard of, one of these days, in the pulpit, or at 
the bar. 

But there comes the Professor, bowling graciously 
to the students, while he receives from them a hearty 
" ruff," as the Scots call their energetic stamping. 
What a magnificent looking man ! Over six feet 
high, broad and brawny, but of elegant propor- 
tions, with a clear, frank, joyous looking face, a 
few wrinkles only around the eye, in other respects 
hale and smooth, his fine locks sprinkled with gray, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 65 

flowing down to his shoulders, and his large lus- 
trous eye beaming with a softened fire. His sub- 
ject is " the Passions." He commences with free- 
dom and ease, but without any particular energy, — 
makes his distinctions well, but without much pre- 
cision or force ; for, to tell the honest truth, philo- 
sophical analysis is not his particular forte. Still, 
it is good, so far as it goes, and probably appears 
inferior chiefly by contrast. But he begins to de- 
scribe. The blood mantles to his forehead, thrown 
back with a majestic energy, and his fine eye 
glows, nay, absolutely burns. And now his impas- 
sioned intellect careers, as on the wings of the wind, 
leaping, bounding, dashing, whirling, over hill and 
dale, rises into the clear empyrean, and bathes itself 
in the beams of the sun. His audience is intent, 
hushed, absorbed, rapt ! He begins, however, to 
descend, and O ! how beautifully, like a falcon from 
" the lift," or an eagle from the storm-cloud. And, 
now he skims along the surface with bird-like 
wing, glancing in the sunlight, swiftly and grace- 
tifully. How varied and deUcate his language, 
how profuse his images, his allusions how affecting, 
and his voice, ringing like a bell among the moun- 
tains. At such seasons his style, manner and tone, 
are unequalled. Chaste and exhilarating as the 
dew of the morning in the vale of Strathmore, yet 
rich and rare as a golden sunset on the brow of 
Benlomond. But Hsten, he returns to his philo- 
sophical distinctions, — fair, very fair, to be sure, but 
nothing special, rather clumsy perhaps, except in re- 
gard to his language. True, undoubtedly, but not 

6* 



66 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

profound, not deeply philosophical, and to me, not 
particularly interesting. His auditors have time to 
breathe. You hear an occasional cough, or blow- 
ing of the nose. A few of the students are dili- 
gently taking notes, but the rest are Hstless. This 
will last only a moment, and now that he is ap- 
proaching the close of his lecture, he will give us 
something worth hearing. There, again he is out 
upon the open sea. How finely the sails are set, 
and with what a majestic sweep the noble vessel 
rounds the promontory, and anchors itself in the 
bay.* 

^ The writer describes not an imaginary, but an actual lecture 
of Professor Wilson's, wbicli lie beard some years ago. 

We have honestly given our own impressions relative to Wil- 
son's metaphysical powers, and stated simply what we heard and 
saw while attending his Lectures in Edinburgh University. 
Others however may have different impressions ; and we cheer- 
fully append the following from Gilfillan as an offset to our stric- 
tures : 

"It is probable that the very variety and versatility of Wil- 
son's powers have done him an injury in the estimation of many. 
They can hardly believe that an actor, who can play so many 
parts, is perfect in all. Because he is, confessedly, one of the 
most eloquent of men, it is doubted whether he can be profound : 
because he is a fine poet, he must be a shallow metaphysician ; — 
because he is the Editor of Blackwood^ ho must be an inefficient 
professor. There is such a thing on this round earth, as diffusion 
along with depth, as the versatile and vigorous mind of a man of 
genius mastering a multitude of topics, while others are blunder- 
ingly acquiring one, or as a man ' multiplying himself among man- 
kind, the Proteus of their talents,' and proving that the Voltair- 
ian activity of brain has been severed, in one splendid instance, 
at least, from the Voltairian sneer and the Voltairian shallowness. 
Such an instance as that of our illustrious Professor, who is ready 
for every tack, — who can, at one time, scorch a poetaster to a 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 67 

Instead of spending our time gazing at public 
buildings, let us continue our conversation about 
the Professor, whose life has been a tissue of inter- 
esting and romantic events. We shall find it profit- 
able as well as pleasant, to glance at the principal 
points in his history, as they tend to throw light on 
the Genius of Scotland. 

John Wilson is the oldest son of a wealthy manu- 
facturer in the city of Paisley, and was born there 
in the year 1788, and is now therefore fifty-eight 
years of age. He was reared and educated, with 
almost patrician indulgence, and inherited from his 
father a considerable amount of property, variously 
estimated from twenty to fifty thousand pounds 
sterling. Of course he enjoyed the bestfacihties for 
acquiring a thorough and polished education. His 
instructor in classical learning was Mr. Peddie 
of Paisley, to whom a public dinner was given in 
1831 by his friends and pupils. Professor Wilson 
was present, and on proposing the health of his 

cinder, at another cast iHumination into the ^ dark deep holds' of 
a moral question, by a glance of his genius ; at one time dash off 
the picture of a Highland glen, with the force of a Salvator, at 
another, lay bare the anatomy of a passion with the precision 
and force of an Angelo, — write, now, the sweetest verse, and 
now the most energetic prose, — now let slip, from his spirit, 
a single star, like the ' evening cloud,' and now unfurl a Noctes 
upon the wondering world, — now paint Avarice till his audience 
are dying with laughter, and now Emulation and Sympathy till 
they are choked with tears, — write now ^ the Elder's Deathbed,' 
and now the ' Address to a Wild Deer,' — be equally at home in 
describing the Sufferings of an Orphan girl, and the undressing 
of a dead Gluaker, by a congregation of ravens, under the brow 
of Helvellyn."— Xi^erar^^ Portraits^ p. 209. 



68 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

venerable preceptor, delivered a brilliant oration, 
not the least interesting portion of which had refe- 
rence to his somewhat erratic course at school. 
" Sometimes," said he, " I sat as dux — sometimes 
in the middle of the class — and I am obliged to 
confess, that on some unfortunate occasions, I was 
absolutely dolt /" The confession was received, 
of course, with roars of laughter. 

From this school he was entered at the Univer- 
sity of Glasgow, when he was little more than thir- 
teen years of age. But he was tall for his years, 
and possessed an original and remarkably exube- 
rant mind ; and though distinguished at this time, 
more for the vigor of his physical constitution, and 
the buoyancy of his spirits, than for any particular 
attainments in literature, he generally kept his 
standing among his fellow students, many of whom 
were greatly his seniors. 

From Glasgow he was transferred to Oxford, 
and here he first distinguished himself as a man 
of genius. He contended in the annual competi- 
tion for the Newdigate prize of fifty guineas for the 
best fifty lines of English verse, and though the 
contest was open to not less than two thousand in- 
dividuals, he carried off the palm from every com- 
petitor. 

At Oxford as at Glasgow he was distinguished 
for his fine athletic frame, his joyous and even bois- 
terous spirits, and his excessive devotion to all sorts 
of gymnastics, field sports and frolicking. This 
however was blended with an extraordinary de- 
votion to literature, and a peculiar simplicity and 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 69 

frankness of character, which rendered him a uni- 
versal favorite. It is well known that at Oxford 
great latitude is enjoyed, especially by " gentlemen 
commoners," as they are called, to which class 
Wilson chose to belong. It is expected that the 
" gentlemen commoners" shall wear a more splen- 
did costume, — spend a good deal more money, — 
and enjoy various immunities, which amount occa- 
sionally to a somewhat unbridled license. " Once 
launched on this orbit," says a fellow student of 
Wilson's, writing to a friend in America, "Mr. 
Wilson continued to blaze away for four succes- 
sive years. * # * Never did a man, by vari- 
ety of talents and variety of humors, contrive to 
place himself as the connecting link between or- 
ders of men so essentially repulsive of each other ; 
from the learned president of his college. Dr. 
Routh, the Editor of parts of Plato, and of some 
theological selections, with whom Wilson enjoyed 
unlimited favor, down to the humblest student. In 
fact from this learned Academic Doctor, and many 
others of the same class, ascending and descend- 
ing, he possessed an infinite gamut of friends and 
associates, running through every key ; and the 
diapason closing full in groom, cobbler, stable boy, 
barber's apprentice, with every shade and hue of 
blackguard and ruffian. In particular, amongst 
this latter kind of worshipful society, there was no 
man who had any talents, real or fancied, for 
thumping, or being thumped, but had experienced 
some taste of his merits from Mr. Wilson. All 
other pretensions in the gymnastic arts he took a 



70 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

pride in humbling or in honoring, but chiefly did 
his examinations fall upon pugilism ; and not a man 
who could either * give,' or ' take,' but boasted to 
have been punished by Wilson of Malleus (cor- 
ruption of Magdalen) College." 

Whether the statement of Wilson's pugilistic at- 
tainments is not somev^hat exaggerated we have 
not the means of deciding. All reports however 
go to confirm its general accuracy. His career 
was certainly a wild and hazardous one, and would 
have ruined an ordinary man. But underlying the 
wild exuberance of Wilson's nature, there was a 
soHd foundation of good feeling and good sense, 
which ever and anon manifested itself, and finally 
formed the principal element of his character. Be- 
sides, he could never forget the holy instructions 
of his childhood. Scotland throws a thousand sa- 
cred influences around the hearts of her children ; 
and hence, wild and wayward in their youth, they 
not unfrequently hve to be the safeguards of virtue 
and the ornaments of society. 

It may be well supposed that on leaving Oxford, 
in the very heyday of youth, with an amazing exu- 
berance of animal spirits, and the command of an 
ample fortune, he must have run a somewhat ex- 
travagant career. He purchased a beautiful estate 
on the banks of Windermere, not far from the res- 
idences of Southey, Coleridge and Wordsworth, 
and yielded himself to the full enjoyment of every 
pleasure. Having built upon his estate a new and 
splendid edifice, he furnished it with every appli- 
ance of taste and luxury, and succeeded by his 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 71 

" magnificent" style of housekeeping, in spending a 
large amount of his property. He gave himself up 
to the most diversified pursuits, now conning his lit- 
erary treasures, and now frolicking in sailor jacket 
and trowsers, with the young men of the country. 
The following, from a writer already quoted, 
will give a lively idea of Wilson's habits and ap- 
pearance, at this period of his life. " My intro- 
duction to him — setting apart the introducee him- 
self — was memorable from one circumstance, viz., 
the person of the introducer. William Words- 
worthy it was, who in the vale of Grasmere, if it 
can interest you to know the place, and in the lat- 
ter end of 1808, if you can be supposed to care 
about the time, did me the favor of making me 
known to John Wilson. I remember the whole 
scene as circumstantially as if it belonged to but 
yesterday. In the vale of Grasmere — that peer- 
less Kttle vale which you, and Gray, the poet, and 
so many others have joined in admiring as the very 
Eden of EngUsh beauty, peace, and pastoral soli- 
tude — you may possibly recall, even from that fly- 
mg glimpse you had of it, a modern house called 
Allan Bank, standing under a low screen of woody 
rocks, which descend from the hill of Silver Horn, 
on the western side of the lake. This house had 
been recently built by a wealthy merchant of Liv- 
erpool ; but for some reason, of no importance to 
you or me, not being immediately wanted for the 
family of the owner, had been let for a term of 
three years to Mr. Wordsworth. At the time I 
speak of, both Mr. Coleridge and myself were on 



72 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

a visit to Mr. Wordsworth, and one room on the 
ground floor, designed for a breakfasting room, 
which commands a subUme view of the three 
mountains, Fairfield, Arthur's Chair, and Seat San- 
dal, was then occupied by Mr. Coleridge as a 
study. On this particular day, the sun having 
only just risen, it naturally happened that Mr. Cole- 
ridge — whose nightly vigils were long — had not yet 
come down to breakfast ; meantime and until the 
epoch of the Coleridgean breakfast should arrive, 
his study was lawfully disposable to profane uses. 
Here, therefore, it was, that opening the door has- 
tily in quest of a book, I found seated, and in earn- 
est conversation, two gentlemen, one of them my 
host, Mr. Wordsworth, at that time about thirty- 
eight years old ; the other was a younger man,, by 
at least sixteen or seventeen years, in a sailor's 
dress, manifestly in robust health — -fervidus juventa, 
and wearing upon his countenance a powerful ex- 
pression of ardor and animated intelligence, mixed 
with much good nature. Mr. Wilson ofElleray — 
delivered as the formula of introduction, in the deep 
tones of Mr. Wordsworth — at once banished the 
momentary surprise I felt on finding an unknown 
stranger where I had expected nobody, and substi- 
tuted a surprise of another kind. I now under- 
stood who it was that I saw ; and there was no 
wonder in his being at Allan Bank, as Elleray stood 
within nine miles ; but (as usually happens in such 
cases) I felt a shock of surprise on seeing a person 
so little corresponding to the one I had half uncon- 
sciously prefigured to myself." 



I 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 73 

Mr. Wilson here appears in a comparatively 
grave and dignified aspect. The same writer de- 
scribes him in quite a different scene. Walking in 
the morning, he met him, with a parcel of young 
" harum skarum" fellows on horseback, chasing an 
honest bull, which had been driven off in the night 
from his peaceful meadow, to furnish sport to these 
"wild huntsmen." About this time, also, he was 
the leader of a •* boating club," which involved 
him in great expense. They had no less than two 
or three establishments for their boats and boat- 
men, and innumerable appendages, which cost each 
of them annually a little fortune. The number of 
their boats was so great as to form a liitle fleet, 
while some of them were quite large and expen- 
sive. One of these in particular, a ten-oared barge, 
w^as believed at the time to have cost over two 
thousand dollars. In consequence of these and 
other expenses, and perhaps the loss of some of 
his patrimony by the failure of a trustee, subjected 
him to the necessity of seeking a change of life. 
This led to his becoming a candidate for the chair 
of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edin- 
burgh. 

Previous to this he had formed plans of exten- 
sive travel. One was a voyage of exploration to 
Central Africa and the sources of the Nile. An- 
other was concocted with two of his friends, with 
whom he proposed to sail from Falmouth to the 
Tagus, and landing w4ierever accident or fancy 
might determine, to purchase mules, hire Spanish 
servants, and travel extensively in Spain and Por- 

7 



74 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

tugal, for eight or nine months ; then, by such of the 
islands in the Mediterranean as particularly at- 
tracted them, they were to pass over into Greece, 
and thence to Constantinople. Finally, they were 
to have visited the Troad, Syria, Egypt, and per- 
haps Nubia ! 

But the reduction of his means, and his marriage 
with a young and beautiful English lady, to whom 
he was greatly attached, broke up these extrava- 
gant schemes. His marriage took place in 1810. 
Two sons and three daughters were the fruits of 
it ; and the connection has doubtless proved one 
of the happiest events in the Professor's life. Death 
however has entered this delightful circle. " How 
characteristic of him," says Gilfillan, " and how 
affecting, was his saying to his students, in apology 
for not returning their essays at the usual time, ' I 
could not see to read them in the Valley and the 
Shadow of Death.'" 

His application in 1820 for the professorship of 
Moral Philosophy which he now fills, was success- 
ful, notwithstanding he had for his competitor one 
of the profoundest thinkers, and most accomplished 
writers of the age. Sir William Hamilton, who 
conducted himself in the affair w^ith the greatest 
dignity and urbanity. Many things were said, at 
the time, derogatory to Wilson's personal charac- 
ter, and his fitness to fill the chair of Moral Phi- 
losophy. The matter probably was decided, more 
with reference to political considerations than any- 
thing besides, as at that time party politics ran ex- 
ceedingly high. Professor Wilson has disappointed 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 7& 

the expectations of his enemies, to say the least, 
and has been gaining in the esteem and good will 
of all classes of the community. 

His splendid career as a poet, editor, critic and 
novelist, is well known. His poems, the principal 
of which are the " Isle of Palms," and the " City of 
the Plague," are exquisitely beautiful, but deficient 
in energy, variety and dramatic power. He ex- 
cels in description, and touches, with a powerful 
hand, the strings of pure and delicate sentiment. 
Nothing can be finer than his "Address to a Wild 
Deer"—" A Sleeping Child"—" The Highland Bu- 
rial Ground," and " The Home Among the Moun- 
tains" in the " City of the Plague." His tales and 
stories, such as " Margaret Lindsay," " The For- 
esters," and those in " The Lights and Shadows 
of Scottish Life," are well conceived, and charm- 
ingly written. They breathe a spirit of the purest 
morality, and are highly honorable not only to the 
head but to the heart of their eloquent author. But 
it is in criticism and occasional sketching in which 
he chiefly excels. In this field, so varied and de- 
lightful, he absolutely luxuriates. His series of pa- 
pers on Spenser and Homer are remarkable for 
their delicate discrimination, strength and exube- 
rance of fancy. No man loves Scotland more en- 
thusiastically, or describes her peculiar scenery and 
manners with more success. Here his "meteor 
pen," as the author of the Corn Law Rhymes aptly 
called it, passes like sunlight over the glowing 
page. His descriptions of Highland scenery and 
Highland sports are instinct with life and beauty. 



76 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

In a word, to quote the eulogy of the discrimina- 
ting Hallam, " Wilson is a writer of the most ar- 
dent and enthusiastic genius, whose eloquence is as 
the rush of mighty waters." 

Professor Wilson's nature is essentially poetical. 
It is sensitive, imaginative and generous. It is also 
said to be deeply religious. Age and experience, 
reflection, and the Word of God, which he greatly 
reveres, have tamed the wild exuberance of his 
youth, strengthened his better principles, and shed 
over his character the mellow radiance of faith 
and love. " The main current of his nature,'' says 
GilfiUan, " is rapt and religious. In proof of this 
we have heard, that on one occasion, he was cross 
ing the hills from St. Mary's Loch to Moffat. It 
was a misty morning ; but as he ascended, the mist 
began to break into columns before the radiant fin- 
ger of the rising sun. Wilson's feelings became too 
much excited for silence, and he began to speak, 
and from speaking began to pray; and prayed 
aloud and alone, for thirty miles together in the 
misty morn. We can conceive what a prayer it 
would be, and with what awe some passing shep- 
herd may have heard the incarnate voice, sound- 
ing on its dim and perilous way." 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Culton Hill — Burns's Monument — Character and Writings 
of '•' the Peasant Poet" — His Religious Views — Monument of 
Professor Dugald Stewart — Scottish Metaphysics — Thomas 
Carlyle. 

Let us take a walk on the Calton Hill, this after- 
noon ; we shall find some objects of interest there. 
At the termination of Prince's Street, commences 
Waterloo Place, in which are situated the Stamp 
Office, Post Office, Bridewell and the Jail. This 
also leads to Calton Hill, and is one of the most de- 
lightful promenades in the city. We skirt around 
the Hill, a little to the right, pass the beautiful and 
spacious buildings of the Edinburgh High School 
on the left, one of the best educational institutions 
in Scotland, continue our walk a short distance, 
and come to a round building on the farther de- 
clivity of the hill. That is "Burns's Monument.'' 
By giving a small douceur to the keeper, we are 
permitted to enter the interior, in the center of 
which stands a statue of the poet, by Flaxman. 
Beautiful and expressive certainly, as a work of 
art, but it is not quite equal to one's conception of 
the poet. The forehead is particularly fine — open, 
massive and high, with an air of lofty repose. The 
mouth is unpoetical and vulgar — at least something 
of this is visible in its expression. It wants the 
chiseled delicacy, as well as gracious expression 



78 GENIUS OP SCOTLAND. 

of noble and generous feeling which we naturally 
look for in the countenance of Burns. But the 
likeness, we understand, is defective. In his best 
days, Burns had a noble, and almost beautiful coun- 
tenance. In stature he was about five feet ten 
inches, of great agility and muscular vigor. His 
countenance was open and ruddy, with a fine, 
frank, generous expression, eyes large and ra- 
diant, forehead arched and lofty, with curling 
hair clustering over it, and his mouth, especially 
when engaged in animated conversation, or lighted 
with a smile, wreathed with intelligence and good 
humor. 

Burns has been termed "the Shakspeare of 
Scotland." And certainly no poet has ever been 
regarded, in that country, with such enthusiastic 
love and reverence. With all his faults, some of 
which were bad enough, all classes of the Scottish 
people, from the noble to the peasant, cherish him 
in their heart of hearts. Indeed he is a sort of na- 
tional idol, to whom all feel bound to do reverence, 
notwithstanding his admitted failings. Nor is this 
a matter of surprise. For, taken as a whole, the 
poetry of Burns is the poetry of nature — of the 
heart — and especially of the Scottish heart. It 
represents the genius of the nation — wild, beautiful 
and free, shaded by thoughtfulness, and set oflf by 
devotion, at once merry as her mountain brooks, 
yet deep, strong and passionate as the stormy 
ocean which encircles her coast. " Tam O'Shan- 
ter," or " Halloween," the " Cotter's Saturday 
Night," or "Mary in Heaven," are the two ex- 



GEi^IUS OF SCOTLAND. 79 

tremes of the picture. In Burns, Scotland saw in- 
carnated her poetry and song, her music and pas- 
sion, her love and devotion, her seriousness and 
merriment, her strong-hearted adherence to integ- 
rity and truth, her occasional recklessness and 
madness of spirit, her love of nature, her venera- 
tion for God. The grave and the gay, the old and 
the young, the religious and the reckless, all saw 
themselves represented in the glorious fragments 
of his witching poetry. Hence the enthusiasm 
with which his first volume of poems was received. 
It seemed as if a new realm had been added to the 
dominions of the British muse — a new and glorious 
creation fresh from the hand of nature. There 
the humor of Smollett, the pathos and tenderness 
of Sterne and Richardson, the real life of Field- 
ing, and the description of Thomson, were all 
united in delineations of Scottish manners and 
scenery by the Ayrshire ploughman ! The vol- 
ume contained matter for all minds — for the lively 
and sarcastic, the wild and the thoughtful, the po- 
etical enthusiast and the man of the world. So 
eagerly was the book sought after, that when 
copies of it could not be obtained, many of the 
poems were transcribed and sent round in manu- 
script among admiring circles. His songs are 
the songs of Scotland. A few have been furnished 
by Tannahill, Fergusson, Ramsay and others ; but 
the main body of the most exquisite and most pop- 
ular Scottish melodies are from the pen of Burns. 
Evermore they echo among her heathy hills and 
bosky dells. You hear them by the sides of her 



80 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

" bonnie burns," and along the shores of her silver 
lakes and " rivers grand." At evening gray, they 
are heard resounding from gow^an'd braes and " bir- 
ken shaves," in the shadow of haunted woods, and 
hoary ruins ; and especially, on winter nights, and 
*• tween and supper times," from her ten thousand 
happy " inglesides." In Burns's " Cotter's Saturday 
Night" are seen his reverence for religion " pure 
and undefiled," combined with exquisite description 
and melodious verse ; in " Tam O'Shanter," his 
vivid fancy and dramatic energy ; in " Hallow- 
een," his spirit of humor and fun ; in his " Lines to 
a Mountain Daisv," his fine moral sense and ten- 
derness of spirit ; and in his " Address to Mary in 
Heaven," his true heartedness, and sweet lyric 
power. His native country is beautifully pictured 
in all his poetry. The " Banks of the Dee," " Edi- 
na's lofty seat," " Old Coila's hills and streams" — 
the " Braes of Glerifter"— " Allan Water"—" Bon- 
nie Doon" — " Sweet Afton among her green braes" 
— "Auld hermit Ayr," "Stately Irwine," "The 
birks of Aberfeldy," — where " simmer blinks o'er 
flowery braes," the " lovely Nith, with fruitful 
vales and spreading hawthorns," — " Gowrie's rich 
valley and Firth's sunny shores," " the clear wind- 
ing Devon," — " Castle Gordon, — where waters flow 
and wild woods rave," — " the banks and braes 
and streams around the Castle of Montgomery," — 
Bannockburn, EUerslie and Sheriff' Muir ; — these, 
and a thousand other beautiful or storied scenes, 
mirror themselves in the stream of his sweet and 
varied verse. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 81 

Some vulgar and foolish things he has written ; 
and we condemn them as heartily as others. But 
his poetry embodies much that is pure and beauti- 
ful and true, much of which Burns had no occasion 
to repent, even on a deathbed, and much of which 
his native country may well be proud. He was 
somewhat intemperate, but not to the extent which 
is generally supposed. Strong temptations, — the 
habits of the times — the folly of his friends, who 
thoughtlessly introduced him to the gaities of the 
metropolis, and then left him to contempt and pen- 
ury, broke down his constitution, and consigned 
him to a premature grave. But he was not a man 
of base and vulgar passions. His was not the cold 
heart of the sceptic, nor the envenomed spirit of 
the villain. It was a wild and wayward heart, I 
grant, but honest and true, generous and kind. 
The temple was shattered by the lightnings of 
Heaven, but it was a temple still ; and from its 
broken altars ever and anon ascended the sweet 
incense of prayer and praise. Burns could never 
forget his good old father, and the hallowed influ- 
ences of religion, shed upon his young heart. He 
loved the Psalms of David, and the holv melodies 
of his native land ; and we presume often sang 
them, of an evening, accompanied, as he himself 
intimates, with " the wild woodland note," of his 
beloved w^ife. Several of his letters to Miss Dun- 
lop and others indicate a strong conviction of the 
Divine existence and the immortality of the soul, 
his struggles against the doubts which haunted his 
spirit, and his earnest longing for purity and per- 



82 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

fection. " You may perhaps think it an extrava- 
gant fancy," he says in a letter to Mr. Aiken, " but 
it is a sentiment which strikes home to my very 
soul ; though sceptical on some points of our current 
belief, yet I think, I have every evidence for the 
reality of a life beyond the stinted bourn of our 
present existence ;" and then adds — " O thou great, 
unknown Power, thou Almighty God ! who has 
lighted up reason in my breast, and blessed me with 
immortality ! I have frequently wandered from that 
order and regularity necessary for the perfection 
of thy works, yet thou hast never left me nor for- 
saken me." Having expressed to Mrs. Dunlop his 
strong conviction of the immortality of the soul, he 
writes as follows, " I know not whether I have 
ever sent you the following lines, or if you have 
ever seen them ; but it is one of my favorite quota- 
tions, which I keep constantly by me in my pro- 
gress through life, in the language of the Book of 
Job, 

" Against the day of battle and of war." — 

spoken of religion : 

" 'Tis this my friend that streaks our morning bright, 
^Tis this that gilds the horror of our night. 
When wealth forsakes us, and when friends are few ; 
When friends are faithless^ or when foes pursue j 
'Tis this that wards the blow, or stills the smart, 
Disarms aflBiiction, or repels her dart ; 
Within the breast bids purest raptures rise, 
Bids smiling Conscience spread her cloudless skies.'^ 

One of the most beautiful letters ever written by 
Bums has reference to this subject, and was ad- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 83 

dressed to the same lady, on New Year's day. — 
" This, dear Madam, is a morning of wishes ; and 
would to God that I came under the Apostle 
James's description ! — * the prayer of the righteous 
man availeth much.' In that case, Madam, you 
should welcome in a year full of blessings : every- 
thing that obstructs or disturbs tranquillity and self- 
enjoyment should be removed, and every pleasure 
that frail humanity can taste should be yours. I 
own myself so little a Presbyterian, that I approve 
of set times and seasons of more than ordinary acts 
of devotion for breaking in on that habitual rou- 
tine of life and thought, which is so apt to reduce 
our existence to a kind of instinct, or even some- 
times, and with some minds, to a state very little 
superior to mere machinery. 

*' This day, the first Sunday of May, a breezy, 
blue skyed noon, sometime about the beginning, 
and a hoary morning and calm sunny day about 
the end of Autumn, — these, time out of mind, have 
been with me a kind of holy day. * * * * I 
believe I owe this to that glorious paper in the 
Spectator, " The Vision of Mirza ;" a piece that 
struck my young fancy before I was capable of 
fixing an idea to a word of three syllables. * On 
the fifth day of the moon, which, according to the 
custom of my forefathers, I always keep holy, after 
having washed myself, and oflTered up my morning 
devotions, I ascended the high hill of Bagdad, in 
order to pass the rest of the day in meditation and 
prayer.' 

" We know nothing, or next to nothing, of the 



84 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

substance or structure of our souls, so cannot ac- 
count for those seeming caprices in them, that one 
should be particularly pleased with this thing, or 
struck with that, which, on minds of a different 
cast, makes no extraordinary impression. I have 
some favorite flowers in spring, among which are 
the mountain daisy, the harebell, the foxglove, the 
wild brier rose, the budding birch, and the hoary 
hawthoni, that I view and hang over with particu- 
lar delight. I never heard the loud solitary whistle 
of the curlew in a summer noon, or the wild, mix- 
ing cadence of a troop of gray plover in an autum- 
nal morning, without feeling an elevation of soul 
like the enthusiasm of devotion or poetry. Tell 
me, my dear friend, to what can this be owing ? 
Are we a piece of machinery, which like the ^Eo- 
lian harp, passive, takes the impression of the pass- 
ing accident ? Or do these workings argue some- 
thing within us above the trodden clod ? I own 
myself partial to such proofs of those awful and 
important realities — a God that made all things — 
man's immaterial and immortal nature — and a world 
of weal or woe beyond death and the grave." 

A fit comment on this and other passages of sim- 
ilar import in his letters is the following affecting 
poem, entitled '* A Prayer in the Prospect of 
Death." It seems to us to utter the deep throb- 
bings of the poet's spirit : 

Why am I loth to leave this earthly scene ? 

Have I so found it full of pleasing charms ? 
Some drops of joy, with draughts of ill between : 

Some gleams of sunshine -mid renewing stornii : 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 85 

Is it departing pangs my soul alarms ? 

Or death's unlovely, dreary, dark abode ? 
For guilt, for guilt, my terrors are in arms ; 

I tremble to approach an angry God, 
And justly smart beneath his sin avenging rod. 

Fain would I say, ' forgive my foul offence V 

Fain promise never more to disobey ; 
But should my Author health again dispense, 

Again I might desert fair virtue's way j 
Again in folly's path might go astray ; 

Again exalt the brute and sink the man. 
Then how should I for heavenly mercy pray ; 

Who act so counter heavenly mercy's plan, 
Who sin so oft have mourn'd, yet to temptation ran ? 

O thou great Governor of all below, 

If I may dare a lifted eye to Thee, 
Thy nod can make the tempest cease to blow, 

Or still the tumult of the raging sea ; 
With that controling power assist ev'n me. 

Those headlong furious passions to confine , 
For all unfit I feel my powers to be, 

To rule their torrent in the allowed line ; 
O aid me with thy help, Omnipotence Divine !" 

After writing thus far, we read for the first time, 
" The Genius and Character of Burns," by Pro- 
fessor Wilson, the richest garland yet wreathed 
around the poet's brow ; and we are happy to find 
the views expressed above fully corroborated by 
that distinguished writer. It is true that Wilson 
delineates the character of Burns with enthusiastic 
admiration ; but his views are so discriminating, 
and withal backed by such an array of facts, that 
no candid man can deny their correctness. We 
cannot therefore resist the temptation of making 
the following extract, in which the finest discrimi- 

8 



86 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

nation is blended with the largest charity. Long 
may the Literature of Scotland be guarded by such 
a critic ! But one thing must not be forgotten 
here, namely, that no one, and especially one per- 
sonally unacquainted with Burns, can pronounce in 
regard to his actual spiritual state. Whether he was 
truly ' born of God,' and notwithstanding the errors 
of his life, died a Christian and went to heaven, 
is happily not a question which we are called to 
decide. 

" We have said but little hitherto of Burns's re- 
ligion. Some have denied that he had any reli- 
gion at all — a rash and cruel denial — made in the 
face of his genius, his character, and his life. What 
man in his senses ever lived without religion ? 
" The fool hath said in his heart. There is no God" 
— was Burns an atheist ? We do not fear to say 
that he was religious far beyond the common run 
of men, even them who may have had a more con- 
sistent and better considered creed. The lessons 
he received in the " auld clay biggin" were not for- 
gotten through life. He speaks — and we believe 
him — of his " early ingrained piety" having been 
long remembered to good purpose — what he called 
his " idiot piety" — not meaning thereby to dispar- 
age it, but merely that it was in childhood an in- 
stinct. " Our Father which art in Heaven, hal- 
lowed be thy name !" is breathed from the lips of 
infancy with the same feeling at its heart that beats 
towards its father on earth, as it kneels in prayer 
by his side. No one surely will doubt his sincerity 
when he writes from Irvine to his father — "Honor'd 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 87 

sir— I am quite transported at the thought, that ere 
long, perhaps soon, I shall bid an eternal adieu to 
all the pains, and uneasinesses, and disquietudes of 
this weary life ; for I assure you I am heartily tired 
of it, and, if I do not very much deceive myself, I 
could contentedly and gladly resign it. It is for 
this reason I am more pleased with the 15th, 16th, 
and 17th verses of the 7th chapter of Revelations, 
than with any ten times as many verses in the 
whole Bible, and would not exchange the noble 
enthusiasm with which they inspire me, for all that 
this world has to offer. * 15. Therefore are they 
before the throne of God and serve him day and 
night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the 
throne shall dwell among them. 16. They shall 
hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither 
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17. For 
the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall 
feed them, and shall lead them unto hving foun- 
tains of waters ; and God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes.'" When he gives lessons to a 
young man for his conduct in life, one of them is, 
" The great Creator to adore ;" when he consoles 
a friend on the death of a relative, " he points the 
brimful grief-worn eyes to scenes beyond the 
grave ;" when he expresses benevolence to a dis- 
tressed family, he beseeches the aid of Him " who 
tempers the wind to the shorn lamb ;" when he 
feels the need of aid to control his passions, he im- 
plores that of the " Great Governor of all below ;" 
when in sickness, he has a prayer for the pardon 
of all his errors, and an expression of confidence 



88 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

in the goodness of God ; when suffering from the 
ills of life, he asks for the grace of resignation, 
"because they are thy will ;" when he observes the 
sufferings of the virtuous, he remembers a rectify- 
ing futurity ; — he is religious not only when sur- 
prised by occasions such as these, but also on set 
occasions ; he had regular worship in his family 
while at Ell island — we know not how it was at 
Dumfries, but we do know that there he catechised 
his children every Saturday evening ; — Nay, he does 
not enter a DruidicaJ circle without a prayer to God. 

He viewed the Creator chiefly in his attributes 
of love, goodness and mercy. ** In proportion as 
we are wrung with grief, or distracted with anx- 
iety, the ideas of a superintendmg Deity, an Al- 
mighty protector, are doubly dear." Him he never 
lost sight of, or confidence in, even in the depths 
of his remorse. An avenging God was too seldom 
in his contemplations — from the little severity in 
his own character — from a philosophical view of 
the inscrutable causes of human frailty — and most 
of all, from a diseased aversion to what was so 
much the theme of the sour Galvanism around him ; 
but which would have risen up an appalling truth 
in such a soul as his, had it been habituated to pro- 
founder thought on the mysterious corruption of 
our fallen nature. 

Sceptical thoughts as to revealed religion had 
assailed his mind, while with expanding powers it 
" communed with the glorious universe ;" and in 
1787 he writes from Edinburgh to a "Mr. James 
M'CandHsh, student in physic, College, Glasgow," 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. ' 89 

who had favored him with a long argumentative 
infidel letter, " I, likewise, since you and I were 
first acquainted, in the pride of despising old 
w^omen's stories, ventured on ' the daring path 
Spinoza trod ;' but experience of the weakness, not 
the strength of human powers, made me glad to 
grasp at revealed religion,^^ When at Ellisland, 
he writes to Mrs. Dunlop, " My idle reasonings 
sometimes make me a little sceptical, but the ne- 
cessities of my heart always give the cold philoso- 
phizings the lie. Who looks for the heart weaned 
from earth ; the soul affianced to her God ; the 
correspondence fixed with heaven ; the pious sup- 
plication and devout thanksgiving, constant as the 
vicissitudes of even and morn ; who thinks to meet 
with these in the court, the palace, in the glare of 
public life ! No : to find them in their precious im- 
portance and divine efficacy, we must search 
among the obscure recesses of disappointment, af- 
fliction, poverty and distress." And again, next 
year, from the same place to the same correspon- 
dent, " That there is an incomprehensibly Great 
Being, to whom I owe my existence, and that he 
must be intimately acquainted with the operations 
and progress of the internal machinery, and con- 
sequent outward deportment of this creature he has 
made — these are, I think, self-evident propositions. 
That there is a real and eternal distinction between 
vice and virtue, and consequently, that I am an ac- 
countable creature ; that from the seeming nature 
of the human mind, as well as from the evident im- 
perfection,-nay positive injustice, in the administra- 

8* 



90 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND, 

tion of affairs, both in the natural and moral worlds, 
there must be a retributive scene of existence be- 
yond the grave, must, I think, be allowed by every 
one who will give himself a moment's reflection. 
I will go farther and affirm, that from the sublim- 
ity, excellence, and purity of his doctrine and pre- 
cepts, unparalleled, by all the aggregated wisdom 
and learning of many preceding ages, though to 
appearance he was himself the obscurest and most 
illiterate of our species : therefore Jesus was from 
God." Indeed, all his best letters to Mrs. Dunlop 
are full of the expression of religious feeling and 
religious faith ; though it must be confessed with 
pain, that he speaks with more confidence in the 
truth of natural than of revealed religion, and too 
often lets sentiments inadvertently escape him, that, 
taken by themselves, would imply that his religious 
beUef was but a Christianized Theism. Of the im- 
mortality of the soul, he never expresses any seri- 
ous doubt, though now and then, his expressions, 
though beautiful, want their usual force, as if he 
felt the inadequacy of the human mind to the mag- 
nitude of the theme. " Ye venerable sages, and 
holy flamens, is there probability in your conjec- 
tures, truth in your stories, of another world be- 
yond death ; or are they all alike baseless visions 
and fabricated fables ? If there is another life, it 
must be only for the just, the amiable, and the hu- 
mane. What a flattering idea this of the world to 
come ! Would to God I as firmlv believed it as I 
ardently wish it." 

How, then, could honored Thomas Carlyle bring 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 91 

himself to affirm, "that Burns had no religion?" 
His religion was in much imperfect — but its in- 
completeness you discern only on a survey of all 
his effusions, and by inference ; for his particular 
expressions of a religious kind are genuine, and as 
acknowledgments of the superabundant goodness 
and greatness of God, they are in unison with the 
sentiments of the devoutest Christian. But remorse 
never suggests to him the inevitable corruption of 
man ; Christian humility he too seldom dwells on, 
though without it there cannot be Christian faith : 
and he is silent on the need of reconcilement be- 
tween the divine attributes of Justice and Mercy. 
The absence of all this might pass unnoticed, were 
not the religious sentiment so prevalent in his confi- 
dential communications with his friends in his most 
serious and solemn moods. In them there is fre- 
quent, habitual recognition of the Creator ; and 
who that finds joy and beauty in nature has not 
the same ? It may be well supposed that if com- 
mon men are more ideal in religion than in other 
things, so would be Burns. He who has lent the 
colors of his fancy to common things, would not 
withhold them from divine. Something — he knew 
not what — he would exact of man — more impres- 
sively reverential than anything he is wont to offer 
to God, or perhaps can offer in the way of institu- 
tion — in temples made with hands. The heartfelt 
adoration always has a grace for him — in the silent 
bosom — in the lonely cottage — in any place w^here 
circumstances are a pledge of its reality ; but 
4he moment it ceases to be heartfelt^ and visibly 



92 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

SO, it loses his respect, it seems as profanation. 
" Mine is the religion of the breast ;" and if it be 
not, what is it worth ? But it must also revive a 
right spirit within us ; and there may be gratitude 
for goodness, without such change as is required 
of us in the gospel. He was too buoyant with 
immortal spirit within him not to credit its immor- 
tal destination ; he was too thoughtful in his human 
love not to feel how different must be our affec- 
tions if they are towards flowers which the blast 
of death may wither, or towards spirits which are 
but beginning to live in our sight, and are gather- 
ing good and evil here for an eternal life. Burns 
beheved that by his own unassisted understanding, 
and his own unassisted heart, he saw and felt those 
great truths, forgetful of this great truth, that he 
had been taught them in the Written Word. Had 
all he learned in the " auld clay biggin" become a 
blank — all the knowledge inspired into his heart 
during the evenings, when "the sire turned o'er 
wi' patriarchal air, the big ha'-bible, ance his fath- 
er's pride," how little or how much would he then 
have known of God and Immortality ? In that de- 
lusion he shared more or less with one and all — 
whether poets or philosophers — who have put their 
trust in natural Theology. As to the glooms in 
which his sceptical reason had been involved, they 
do not seem to have been so thick — so dense — as 
in the case of men without number, who have, by 
the blessing of God, become true Christians. Of 
his levities on certain celebrations of religious 
rites, we before ventured an explanation ; and 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 93 

while it is to be lamented that he did not more fre- 
quently dedicate the genius that shed so holy a 
lustre over " The Cotter's Saturday Night," to the 
service of religion, let it be remembered how few 
poets have done so — alas ! too few — that he, like 
his tuneful brethren, must often have been de- 
terred by a sense of his own unworthiness from ap- 
proaching its awful mysteries — and above all, that 
he was called to his account before he had attained 
his thoughtful prime." 

Speaking of Burns's last sickness. Professor Wil- 
son says : " But he had his Bible with him in his 
lodgings, and he read it almost continually — often 
when seated on a bank, from which he had diffi- 
culty in rising without assistance, for his weakness 
was extreme, and in his emaciation he was like a 
ghost. The fire of his eye was not dimmed — in- 
deed fever had lighted it up beyond even its natu- 
ral brightness ; and though his voice, once so va- 
rious, was now hollow, his discourse was still that 
of a Poet. To the last he loved the sunshine, the 
grass, and the flowers ; to the last he had a kind 
look and word for the passers-by, who all knew it 
was Burns. Laboring men, on their way from 
work, would step aside to the two or three houses 
called the Brow, to know if there was any hope 
of his life ; and it is not to be doubted that devout 
people remembered him, who had written the Cot- 
ter's Saturday Night, in their prayers. His scep- 
tical doubts no longer troubled him ; they had never 
been more than shadows ; and he had at last the 
faith of a confiding Christian." 



^ GENIUS OF SCOTLAND^ 

Leaving Burns's Monument, we ascend the hill, 
in the opposite direction, pass the unfinished Par- 
thenon, consisting only of a few elegant columns, 
and intended to commemorate the battle of Water- 
loo, the Observatory, and the Monument of Pro- 
fessor Playfair, the celebrated mathematician and 
astronomer, and reach the elegant though not im- 
posing monument of Professor Dugald Stewart, not 
the most acute, but certainly the most finished and 
instructive of all the writers of the Scottish meta- 
physical school. Let us linger here, a few mo- 
ments, for the name of Professor Stewart is pecu- 
liarly dear to Scotland. No man was ever more 
enthusiastically regarded by his pupils, or more 
generally loved and revered by the community. 
Dr. Reid of Glasgow University, the immediate pre- 
decessor and preceptor of Stewart, was a man of 
an acute and original mind, though not possessed 
of half the grace and fluency of his illustrious pu- 
pil. It was Reid however that first gave clearness 
and method to the metaphysics of Scotland. His 
writings on first principles, or, as he called them, 
principles of Common Sense, gave a death-blow, at 
least in Scotland, to the ideal theory of Berkeley 
and Hume, and greatly affected the course of phi- 
losophical investigation not only in England but in 
France. In fact, his philosophy supplanted, for a 
time, the infidel metaphysics of Hume and the 
French rationalists. It cut the roots equally of 
idealism and sensualism, and was eagerly received 
by thoughtful men in Europe and in this country. 
It can be seen running like a sunbeam, through the 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 99 

speculations of Royer CoIIard, Constant, Jouffroy 
and even of Cousin. Based on the Baconian 
method, it proceeded, modestly and unostenta- 
tiously, to ascertain, and then to classify the facts 
of mind ; and, because it projected no splendid 
theories, or blazing fancies, it has been rejected by 
superficial and visionary thinkers, v^ith some de- 
gree of contempt. After all, it may yet be recog- 
nized, by all genuine philosophers, as the only true 
scientific method. In the hands of Stewart and of 
Brown, his colleague and successor, it began to as- 
sume a lofty and attractive position ; but alas ! it 
has remained stationary for the want of strong and 
true-hearted defenders. Stigmatized by the Ger- 
mans as " pallid and insular — timid and cold," it 
has been forsaken, of late, by the more popular 
metaphysical writers, for the brilliant and astound- 
ing, but ever varying visions of the Transcendental 
School. Smitten with the love of Ontology, or the 
doctrine of " the absolute and the essential," scorn- 
ing the methods of Bacon and Newton as empiri- 
cal and shallow, and setting their foot on the mod- 
est, perhaps timid speculations of Reid and Stew- 
art, metaphysicians have plunged one after another, 
into the abyss of an absolute Spiritualism, where, 
amid the glimmerings of a half-dark and lurid ra- 
diance, may be seen the disciples of Kant and 
Fichte, Hegel and Schelling, floundering in the 
gloom, changing places continually, now rising 
towards the light of heaven, and then sinking in 
the " abysmal dark." 



96 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

The writings of Reid, Stewart and Brown have 
exerted a great influence on the thinking of Scot- 
land, which, even among the common people, has 
a somewhat metaphysical turn. Combining with 
religion and poetry, it has given to both a pecuUar 
depth and earnestness of tone. In some it is deeply 
practical, in others speculative and visionary. 

Thomas Carlyle, the product chiefly of Scotland, 
but partly also of Germany — or perhaps, rather, a 
magnificent " lusus naturae," has a large amount of 
Scottish shrewdness, enthusiasm and speculation, 
overlaid and burnished with German spiritualism 
and romance. A native of Annandale, and im- 
bued with the religion of the Covenant, and the 
poetry of the hills, he has wandered oflf into the 
fields of metaphysical speculation, where, amid 
dreams of gorgeous and beautiful enchantment, he 
is evermore uttering his burning oracular words, 
of half pagan, and half Christian, wisdom. A 
genuine Teufelsdrockh, — he is yet a genuine 
Scot, and cannot therefore forget the holy wis- 
dom of his venerable mother, and his Annandale 
home.* 



* The following graphic description of the residence, personal 
appearance and conversation of Carlyle is from the pen of Elizur 
Wright, Junr. " Passing the long lines of new buildings which 
have stretched from Westminster up the Thames, and engulphed 
the old village of Chelsea, in omnivorous London, you recognize 
at last the old Chelsea Hospital, one of the world-famous clusters 
of low brick palaces, where Britain nurses her fighting men when 
they can fight no more. A little past this and an old ivy-clad 
church, with its buried generations lying around it, you come to 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 97 

an antique street running at right angles with the Thames, and 
a few steps from the river, you find Carlyle's name on the door. 
A Scotch lass ushers you into the second story front chamber, 
which is the spacious workshop of the world-maker. Here are 
lots of books — ponderous tomes in Latin, Greek, and black letter 
English, — some are on shelves occupying nearly all the walls, and 
some are piled on tables and a reading rack as having just been 
read. The furniture speaks of Scotch economy, and the whole 
face of things of more than common Scotch tidiness. In fact, a 
superbly wrought bell-rope indicates that the wife is a true hero 
worshipper. Carlyle is a mere man, ordinary size, lofty and jut- 
ting brow, keen — exceedingly keen eye, and modest unassuming 
manners. His voice is melodious, and with its rich Scotch ca- 
dence, and rapid flow, reminds you of Thulberg's music in some 
strange out of the way key. Just set him agoing, and he runs 
without stopping, giving you whole masses of history, painting 
and poetry, and a great mass of the boundless system of Carlyle- 
ism. There is nothing which he does not touch ; and figures of 
speech come tumbling in from all corners, top and bottom of the 
universe, as the merest matter of course. Doubt, hesitation or 
qualification have no place among his opinions, he having kicked 
them all out of doors when he began his philosophy." 

Many inquiries have been made respecting Carlyle's religious 
opinions ; but it is difficult to say anything very decisive in reply. 
That he has a deep reverence for the Christian faith, — that he 
strongly inclines to a sort of transcendental orthodoxy, — that he 
loves, moreover, true-hearted piety, and is himself a model of in- 
tegrity and affection cannot be doubted. He often speaks of Je- 
sus as divine. — as the most perfect of all heroes — as the God 
man — as the Divine man. He possesses a profound sympathy 
for the higher and more beautiful forms of Christian virtue, and 
describes the lives and characters of good men with the live- 
liest relish. We incline therefore to believe, that notwithstand- 
ing his transcendental speculations, and philosophical doubts, he 
has a true (though not thoroughly defined) heart faith in the es- 
sential doctrines of the Christian system. Clouds and darkness 
hang upon the horizon of his spiritual vision, but gloriously ir- 
radiated with light from heaven, and here and there opening 
into vistas of serene and ineffable beauty. Many of his follow- 
ers, we think, do not understand him, and we fear, will never 

9 



98 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

reacli his purity and elevation of mind. They are more likely to 
be led astray, by the magnificent illusions of his gifted but some- 
what erring fancy. Instead of resting in the simple-hearted and 
heroic ftiith which he loves so much to describe, they may plunge 
into the abysses of doubt and despair. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Preachiug in Edinburgli — The Free Church — Dr. Chalmers — 
A Specimen of his Preaching — The Secret of his Eloquence. 

Edinburgh has ever been distinguished for its 
preachers. In former times the classic Blair, the 
fervid Walker, the impassioned Logan, the judi- 
cious Erskine, the learned Jamieson, the exquisite 
Alison, the candid Wellw^ood and the energetic 
Thomson delighted and instructed all classes of the 
community. To these have succeeded a host of 
learned and truly eloquent men, some of w^hom are 
members of "the Kirk," others of the Episcopal 
communion, and others of the various bodies of 
Presbyterian "Seceders," Congregationahsts and 
Baptists. Among the clergymen of the Free Church, 
Dr. Chalmers of course is "facile princeps ;" Dr. 
Candlish, in effectiveness and popularity probably 
stands next, while Drs. Cunningham, Bruce, Gor- 
don and Buchanan, the Rev. James Begg, and one 
or tw^o others form a cluster of influential and elo- 
quent preachers. Among the Congregationahsts, 
Rev. William L. Alexander is the most learned 
and polished. He has written ably on the Tracta- 
rian controversy and on the connection of the Old 
and New Testaments, and recently received a 
pressing invitation to become associated with Dr. 
Wardlaw of Glasgow, as assistant pastor and Pro- 



100 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

fessor of Theology. He is a fine looking man, be- 
ing some six feet high, with expressive features, 
dark penetrating eyes, and massive black hair, clus- 
tering over a fair and lofty forehead. His manner 
is dignified and agreeable, but not particularly im- 
passioned. 

Among the " seceding" Presbyterians, Dr. John 
Brown, minister of Broughton Place, and one of 
the Professors of Theology in the United Secession 
Church, the Rev. Dr. Johnstone and the Rev. 
James Robertson of the same communion are 
among the most effective preachers in Scotland. 
The Baptists are justly proud of the learned and 
polished Christopher Anderson, author of an able 
work on the "Domestic Constitution," and an elab- 
orate " History of the English Bible" — the Rev. 
William Innes, one of the most amiable and pious 
of men, and the Rev. Jonathan Watson, whose 
earnest practical discourses are well appreciated 
by his intelligent audience. Mr. Innes at one 
time was a minister of the established Church, 
with a large salary and an agreeable situation, but 
abandoned it for conscience' sake, as he could not 
approve of the union of Church and State, nor of 
some of the peculiarities of Presbyterianism. His 
pious, consistent course, and liberal, catholic spirit, 
have won for him the admiration of all denomina- 
tions of Christians. 

Bishop Terrot of the Episcopal Church is some- 
what high in his church notions, but is regarded as 
an amiable and learned man, while the Rev. 
Messrs. Craig and Drummond of the same church. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 101 

are able and influential preachers. Among those who 
adhere to " the Kirk" as it was, the Rev. Dr. Muir is 
one of the most accomplished, and the Rev. Dr. Lee, 
of the University, the most learned and influential. 
Taken as a whole, the Edinburgh clergy are fair 
representatives of the Scottish preachers generally. 
Those therefore who wish to form a just estimate 
of the spirit and power of the pulpit in Scotland, 
have only to hear them repeatedly, in their respect- 
ive places of worship. They hold doctrinal views 
somewhat diverse, though essentially one, adopt 
different styles of preaching, and in certain aspects 
diflferent styles of life. Yet they manifestly be- 
long to the same great family, and preach the 
same glorious gospel. They are remarkably dis- 
tinguished for their strong common sense, laborious 
habits, pious spirit and practical usefulness. Occa- 
sionally they come into keen polemical strife ; but 
it amounts to little more than a gladiatorial exhibi- 
tion, or rather a light skirmishing, without malice 
prepense, or much evil result. Generally speak- 
ing, they are not pre-eminently distinguished for 
their learning, though certainly well informed, and 
devoted to the great work of their ministry. They 
are more practical than speculative, more devout 
than critical, more useful than renowned. They 
live in the hearts of their flocks, and the results of 
their labors may be seen in the integrity, good or- 
der and industry of the people. It is not our pur- 
pose to say much on the subject of the recent 
" break" in the Scottish church, in which, as the 
members of the " Free Church" assert, the suprem- 

9* 



102 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

acy of Jesus Christ is concerned. The intrusion 
by lay patrons, of unpopular ministers upon the 
churches, is certainly a vicious practice, and ought 
to be abolished. But this is only a fragment of a 
greater and more vital question, pertaining to the 
spirituality and authority of Christ's church, which 
must be settled one of these days. The Free 
Church movement has developed much fine enthu- 
siasm, and no small amount of self-denial ; and the 
results will doubtless be favorable to the progress 
of spiritual freeedom ; but this is only a single 
wave of a mighty and ever increasing tide, which 
is destined to sweep, not over Scotland alone, but 
over the world. In this place, however, we can- 
not refrain from expressing our conviction that this 
division in the Presbyterian ranks is not properly a 
schism or a heresy. It breaks up an existing or- 
ganization, but affinity remains. The doctrines 
and discipline of the two churches are essentially 
the same. The one may be purer and stronger 
than the other, but they are members of the same 
family, professedly cherish the same spirit, and aim 
at the accompHshment of the same ends. This, 
too, may be said of nearly all the other sects ; so 
that in Scotland, there is more real unity among 
Christians than there is in Papal Rome. The lat- 
ter is one, only as a mountain of ice, in which all 
impurities are congealed, is one. The unity of the 
former is like that of the thousand streams which 
rush from the Alpine heights, proceeding, as they 
do, from a common source, and finally meeting and 
blending in a common ocean. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 103 

But enough of general speculation and descrip- 
tion. Dr. Chalmers is to preach at Dr. Candlish's 
church, so let us go to hear him. He has lost 
something of his early vigor, but retains enough of 
it to make him the most interesting preacher in 
Scotland or the world. Let us make haste, or 
we shall fail of obtaining a seat. Already the 
house is filled with an expectant congregation. 
The Doctor comes in, and all is hushed. He is 
dressed in gown and bands, and presents a striking 
and venerable appearance. His serious, earnest 
aspect well befits his high office. He is of the mid- 
dle height, thick set and brawny, but not corpu- 
lent. His face is rather broad, with high cheek 
bones, pale, and as it were care-woni, but well 
formed and expressive. His eyes are of a leaden 
color, rather dull when in a state of repose, but 
flashing with a half-smothered fire when fairly 
roused. His nose is broad and lion-like, his mouth, 
one of the most expressive parts of his counte- 
nance, firm, a little compressed and stern, indica- 
ting courage and energy, while his forehead is am- 
ple and high, as one might naturally suppose, cov- 
ered with thin, straggling grey hair. He reads a 
psalm in a dry, guttural voice — reads a few verses 
of Scripture, without much energy or apparent 
feeling, and then offers a brief, simple, earnest, and 
striking prayer. By the way, the Doctor's prayers 
are among his most interesting exercises. He is 
always simple, direct, reverent, and occasionally 
quite original and striking. You feel while joining 
in his devotions, that a man of genius and piety is 



104 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

leading your willing spirit up to the throne of 
God. How striking, for example, when he calls us 
to remember "that every hour that strikes, — every 
morning that dawns, and every evening that dar- 
kens around us, brings us nearer to the end of our 
pilgrimage." Yet he has no mouthing or manner- 
ism, in this solemn exercise. He is not makings 
but offering a prayer. His tones are earnest and 
solemn ; most manifest it is that his soul is holding 
intimate fellowship w^ith the Father of Spirits. 

But he announces his text — 1 John iv. 10. "God 
is love" — a text from which he has preached be- 
fore ; but no matter for that.* He commences, 
with a few broken sentences, pronounced in a 
harsh tuneless voice, with a strong Scottish accent. 
The first feeling of a stranger would be that of dis- 
appointment, and apprehension that the discourse 
was to prove a failure. This was the case with Can- 
ning and Wilberforce, who went to hear Dr. Chal- 
mers, when he preached in London. They had got 
into a pew near the door, when " the preacher began 
in his usual unpromising way, by stating a few near- 
ly self-evident propositions, neither in the choicest 
language, nor in the most impressive voice ; ' If this 
be all,' said Canning to his companion, ' it will never 
do.' Chalmers w^ent on, — the shuffling in the con- 
gregation gradually subsided. He got into the 

* In looking oyer the Doctor's printed yrorks, we have found 
this discourse in a somewhat different garb from that in which 
we have presented it. We were not at first aware of this, or we 
might have selected some other discourse; for it was our good for- 
tune to hear the Doctor frequently. This and other delinea- 
tions, however, are taken from personal observation. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 105 

mass of his subject; his weakness became strength, 
his hesitation was turned into energy ; and bring- 
ing the whole volume of his mind to bear upon it, 
poured forth a torrent of most close and conclusive 
argument, brilliant with all the exuberance of an 
imagination which ranged over all nature for illus- 
trations, and yet managed and applied each of 
them with the same unerring dexterity, as if that 
single one had been the study of his whole life. 
* The tartan beats us,' said Mr. Canning, ' we have 
no preaching hke that in England.'" 

It may be well to state here that Chalmers is a 
slavish reader, — that is, he reads every thing he 
says, — but then he reads so naturally, so earnestly, 
so energetically, that manuscript and everything 
else is speedily forgotten by the astonished and de- 
lighted hearer. 

He proceeds with his subject — God is love. His 
object, as announced, is not so much to elucidate 
the thought or idea of the text, as to dislodge from 
the minds of his hearers, the dread and aversion 
for God, existing in all unregenerate men. He in- 
sists, in the first place, that it is not as a God of 
love, that the Deity is regarded by mankind — but 
simply as God, as a being mysterious and dread- 
ful, a being who has displeasure towards them in 
his heart. This arises from two causes — the first, 
that they are ignorant of this great and awfully 
mysterious Being — the second, that they have 
sinned against him. This feeling then is displaced 
first by the incarnation of the Deity in the person 
of his Son, so that we may know him and love 



106 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

him as a Father and a friend ; and secondly, by 
the free pardon of our sin, through the sacrifice of 
the Cross. The division is rather awkward ; but 
it serves the purpose of the preacher, who thus 
brings out some of the most subhme pecuUarities 
of the Gospel, and applies them with overwhelm- 
ing force and pathos to the sinner's heart. Under 
the first head, he shows, in language of uncommon 
energy, that it is impossible for man, in his present 
state, to regard a being so vast, so mysterious, and 
so little known as God, except with superstitious 
dread. "All regarding him," says he, "is inscru- 
table ; the depths of his past eternity, the mighty 
and unknown extent of his creation, the secret pol- 
icy or end of his government — a government that 
embraces an infinity of worlds, and reaches for- 
ward to an infinity of ages ; all these leave a being 
so circumscribed in his faculties as man, so limited 
in his duration, and therefore so limited in his ex- 
perience, in profoundest ignorance of God ; and 
then the inaccessible retirement in which this God 
hides himself from the observation of his creatures 
here below, the clouds and darkness which are 
about the pavilion of his throne, the utter inability 
of the powers of man to reach beyond the con- 
fines of that pavilion, render vain all attempts to 
fathom the essence of God, or to obtain any dis- 
tinct conception of his person or being, which have 
been shrouded in the deep silence of many centu- 
ries, insomuch that nature, whatever it may tell us 
of his existence, places between our senses and this 
mighty cause a veil of interception." 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 107 

It is not unnatural to dread such a being. Na- 
ture, though full of God, furnishes no clear and sat- 
isfying evidence of his designs ; for sunshine and 
shower, green fields and waving harvests are in- 
termingled with tempests and hurricane, blight and 
mildew, destruction and death. " While in one 
case we have the natural affection and unnumbered 
sweets of many a cottage, which might serve to 
manifest the indulgent kindness of him who is the 
universal parent of the human family ; we have on 
the other hand the cares, the heart-burnings, the 
moral discomforts, often the pining sickness, or the 
cold and cheerless poverty, or, more palpably, the 
fierce contests and mutual distractions even among 
civilized men ; and lastly, and to consummate all, 
the death, — the unshaken and relentless death with 
which generation after generation, whether among 
the abodes of the prosperous and the happy, or 
among the dwellings of the adverse and unfortu- 
nate, after a few years are visited, laying all the 
varieties of human fortune in the dust, — these all 
bespeak if not a malignant, an offended, God." 

But this vague uncertainty and dread are cor- 
rected and displaced by the incarnation of the 
Deity in the person of Christ — " the brightness of 
the Father's glory and the express image of his 
person." "The Godhead then became palpable 
to human senses, and man could behold, as in a 
picture, and in distinct personification, the very 
characteristics of the Being that made him." 

Upon this idea, a favorite one with Dr. Chalmers, 
he dwells with the profoundest interest, presenting 



108 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

it with a strength of conception and exuberance 
of illustration which makes it clear and palpable to 
the minds of all. How his heart glows, almost to 
bursting, with the sublime and thrilling idea that 
God is manifest in the flesh. How he pours out, as 
in a torrent of light, the swelling images and emo- 
tions of his throbbing spirit. " We could not scale 
the height of that mysterious ascent which brings 
us within view of the Godhead. It is by the de- 
scent of the Godhead unto us that this manifes- 
tation has been made ; and we learn and know it 
from the wondrous history of him who went about 
doing good continually. We could not go in 
search of the viewless Deity, through the depths and 
vastnesses of infinity, or divine the secret, the un- 
told purposes that were brooding there. But in 
what way could a more palpable exhibition have 
been made, than when the eternal Son, enshrined 
in humanity, stepped forth on the platform of vis- 
ible things, and there proclaimed the Deity ? We 
can now reach the character of God in the human 
looks, in the human language of Him who is the 
very image and visible representative of the Deity ; 
we see it in the tears of sympathy he shed ; we 
hear it in the accents of tenderness which fell 
from his lips. Even his very remonstrances were 
those of a deep and gentle nature ; for they are 
remonstrances of deepest pathos — the complaints 
of a longing spirit against the sad perversity of 
men bent on their own ruin." 

Not content with this clear and ample exhibition 
of his views, he returns to it, as if with redoubled 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 109 

interest, and though presenting no new conception 
upon the point, delights to pour upon it the exube- 
rant radiance of his teeming imagination. The 
hearers, too, are as interested as he, and catch with 
dehght the varying aspects of his pecuhar ora- 
tory. In fact, their minds are in perfect sympathy 
and harmony with his ; and tears start to every 
eye, as he bursts out, as if applying the subject to 
himself, in the following beautiful and affecting 
style : — '* Previous to this manifestation, as long as 
I had nothing before me but the unseen God, my 
mind wandered in uncertainty, my busy fancy was 
free to expatiate, and its images filled my heart 
with disquietude and terror ; but in the life and 
person and history of Jesus Christ, the attributes 
of the Deity are brought down to the observation 
of the senses, and I can no longer mistake them, 
when, in the Son, who is the express image of his 
Father, I see them carried home to my understand- 
ing by the evidence and expression of human or- 
gans — when I see the kindness of the Father, in 
the tears that fell from the Son at the tomb of Laza- 
rus — when I see his justice blended with his mercy, 
in the exclamation, ' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem !' by 
Jesus Christ, uttered with a tone more tender than 
human bosom or human sympathy ever uttered — 
I feel the judgment of God himself flashing convic- 
tion on my conscience, and calling me to repent, 
while his wrath is suspended, and he still waiteth 
to be gracious !" 

But a more distinct and well-grounded reason 
for distrust and fear in reference to the Deity arises 

10 



110 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

from the consciousness of guilt. In spite of ourselves, 
in spite of our false theology, we feel that God has 
a right to be offended with us, that he is offended 
with us, and not only so, but that we deserve his 
displeasure. This he shows is counteracted by the 
doctrine ol the atonement : " Herein is love, not 
that we loved him, but that he loved us, and sent 
his Son into the world to be a propitiation for 
our sins." By the fact of the incarnation, a con- 
quest is gained over the imagination haunted with 
the idea of an unknown God ; so also by that of the 
atonement, a conquest is gained over the solid and 
well-grounded fear of guilt. This idea the Doctor 
illustrates with equal force and beauty, showing that 
by means of the Sacrifice of the Cross, justice and 
mercy are brought into harmony, in the full and 
free pardon of the believing penitent. By this 
means the great hindrance to free communion with 
God is taken away. Guilt is cancelled, for tbe sake 
of Him who died, and the poor trembling sinner is 
taken to the bosom of Infinite Love. " In the glo- 
rious spectacle of the Cross, we see the mystery 
revealed, and the compassion of the parent meeting 
in fullest harmony with the now asserted and now 
vindicated prerogative of the Lawgiver. The Gos- 
pel is a halo of all the attributes of God, and yet 
the pre-eminent manifestation there is of God as 
love, which will shed its lustre amid all the perfec- 
tions of the Divine nature. And here it should be 
specially remarked, that the atonement was made 
for the sins of the whole world ; God's direct and 
primary object being to vindicate the truth and 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. Ill 

justice of the Godhead. Instead of taking from his 
love, it only gave it more emphatic demonstration ; 
for, instead of love, simple and bending itself with- 
out difficulty to the happiness of its objects, it v^as 
a love which, ere it could reach the guilty being it 
groaned after, had to force the barriers of a neces- 
sity w^hich, to all human appearance, was insupera- 
ble." With this fine idea the Doctor concludes his 
discourse, presenting it with a mingled tenderness 
and vehemence of style and tone perfectly irresisti- 
ble. " The love of God," he exclaims, '* with such 
an obstacle and trying to get over it, is a higher 
exhibition than all the love which radiates from his 
throne on all the sinless angels. The affirmation 
that God is love, is strengthened by that other, to 
him who owns the authority of Scripture, that God 
so loved the world — I call on you to mark the em- 
phatic so — as to give his only-begotten Son. ' He 
spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for 
us all ;' or that expression, ' herein is love, not that 
we loved God, but that he loved us, and gave his 
Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' There is a 
moral, a depth, an intensity of meaning, a richness 
of sentiment that Paul calls unsearchable, in the 
Cross of Christ, that tells emphatically that God is 
righteousness, and that God is love." 

Such is a feeble and imperfect outline of a rich 
and eloquent discourse, from one of the richest and 
most expressive texts in the Bible. But we cannot 
transfer to the written or printed page the tone, 
look and manner, the vivida vis, the natural and 
overwhelming energy, the pathos and power of 



112 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

tone, whicli thrill the hearer as with the shocks of 
a spiritual electricity. It is this peculiar energy 
which distinguishes Chalmers, and which distin- 
guishes all great orators. His mind is on fire with 
his subject, and transfers itself all glowing to the 
minds of his hearers. For the time being all are 
fused into one great whole, by the resistless might 
of his burning eloquence. In this respect Chalmers 
has been thought to approach, nearer than any 
other man of modern times, the style and tone of 
Demosthenes. His manner has a torrent-vehe- 
mence, a sea-like swell and sweep, a bannered 
tramp as of armies rushing to deadly conflict. 
With one hand on his manuscript, and the other 
jerked forward with electric energy, he thunders 
out his gigantic periods, as if winged with " volleyed 
lightning." The hearers are astonished, — awed, — 
carried away, — lifted up as on the wings of the 
wind, and borne ** whithersoever the master list- 
eth." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Biograpliical Sketch of Dr. Chalmers. 

As an evangelical divine, a preacher of great 
strength and earnestness, a man of a truly devout 
and generous spirit, of great independence, energy 
and perseverance, a leader of the Free Church of 
Scotland, and a successful advocate of the doctrine 
of Christ's supremacy. Dr. Chalmers may be re- 
garded as a fair embodiment of the religious spirit 
of his native land. In his mode of thinking, in 
his doctrinal belief and practice, especially in his 
devout and fervid eloquence, the Doctor is emi- 
nently Scottish. His whole spirit is bathed in the 
piety of " the Covenant." On this account a brief 
sketch of his history will not be inappropriate in 
this place. 

Thomas Chalmers, D. D., was born about the 
year 1780, in the town of Anstruther in Fifeshire, 
the birth-place of another man of genius. Professor 
Tennant, of St. Andrews, the celebrated author of 
" Anster Fair," one of the most facetious poems 
in the language, and making a near approach to 
the dramatic energy of " Tam O'Shanter." Young 
Chalmers gave decided indications of genius and 
energy, and was sent to the College of St. An- 
drews, and soon became " a mathematician, a nat- 
ural philosopher, and though there was no regular 

10* 



114 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

professor of that science at St. Andrews, a chemist." 
After having been Hcensed as a preacher, he offici- 
ated for sometime, as assistant minister, at Cavers 
in Roxburghshire. He w^as subsequently called to 
the care of the parish church in Kilmany, beauti- 
fully situated " amid the green hills and smiling 
valleys," of his native county. He was ordained 
on the 12th of May, 1803, and soon displayed the 
vigor and activity of his mind. In addition to his 
regular parochial engagements, he devoted much 
attention to botany and chemistry ; lectured on the 
latter science and kindred subjects in the neigh- 
boring towns ; became an officer in a volunteer 
corps ; assisted the late Professor Vilant in teach- 
ing the mathematical class in the College of St. An- 
drews ; on the succeeding session opened a private 
class of his own, on the same branch of science, 
to which all the students flocked ; and wrote one 
or two books, and several pamphlets on the topics 
of the day. His first publication appeared at Cu- 
par in Fife on what was called the Leslie Contro- 
versy. It was written in the form of a letter ad- 
dressed to Professor Playfair ; and abounds in talent, 
wit and humor. It was published anonymously, 
and for a long time was not known to be his. He 
vindicates in it very powerfully, the divines of the 
Church of Scotland, from the imputation of a want 
of mathematical talent, a reproach which he thought 
Professor Playfair had thrown upon them. He also 
wrote a volume on the resources of the country, 
which attracted much attention, as a work of ability 
and eloquence. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 115 

From these statements it must be evident that 
Dr. Chahiiers had but h'ttle time to devote to the 
spiritual interests of his parish. He performed his 
stated duties, it is true, but devoted his energies 
chiefly to Hterary and scientific pursuits. Indeed 
he was in rehgious behef a rationahst, and had not 
yet adopted those profound and spiritual convic- 
tions which subsequently formed the main-spring 
of his ministry. In 1805 he offered himself as a can- 
didate for the vacant chair of Mathematics in the 
University of Edinburgh, with considerable chan- 
ces of success, but afterwards withdrew his name 
at the earnest solicitation of his friends, who wished 
to retain him in the Church. 

When Dr. Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopedia 
was projected Dr. Chalmers was engaged as one 
of the contributors, and wrote the article " Chris- 
tianity," which was subsequently published in a 
separate form. It was about this time that his 
mind underwent a radical change on the subject of 
vital religion. He discovered the utter inefficiency 
of a utilitarian morality, for the renovation and gui- 
dance of man, and eagerly embraced those peculiar 
views of evangelical faith, which recognize the sac- 
rifice and intercession of Christ as a ground of hope 
to the fallen, the necessity of " being born of the 
Spirit," and the ineffable beauty and blessedness of 
" a fife hid with Christ in God." It is said that this 
change took place while writing the article refeiTed 
to ; he then felt the necessity of acting upon his 
own principles, of yielding his heart absolutely and 
forever, to the truths of that Revelation, the reality 



116 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

and authority of which he was called to prove. It 
will be remembered by those acquainted with the 
article in question, that he takes the ground that a 
divine revelation must necessarily be mysterious ; 
that coming from God, it must belong to the infi- 
nite and the obscure, and thus contain many things 
which shock our preconceptions, — that a priori ob- 
jections to its doctrines are therefore null and void, 
and that the whole must be received, without ex- 
ception or modification. He insists that while we 
have experience of man, we have little or no expe- 
rience of God, that the thoughts of such a Being 
must infinitely transcend ours, and in all probabil- 
ity contradict ours, especially with reference to 
the great problem touching the salvation of the 
guilty. If then the genuineness and authentic- 
ity of the sacred books can be proved as historical 
facts, we have nothing to do with the revelation 
which they contain, but to receive it with adoring 
gratitude and submission. The incarnation of the 
Godhead, the sacrifice of the Cross, justification by 
faith, the re-birth of the soul by the Holy Spirit, 
the resurrection of the body, and eternal judge- 
ment are revealed facts or truths, already proved, 
and must therefore constitute the heart's-creed of 
every true believer. These doctrines conse- 
quently were embraced by Chalmers himself, and 
formed thenceforward the subjects of his preaching 
to the people. A great excitement ensued. The 
community was aroused — multitudes were con- 
verted. Chalmers preached with the greatest fer- 
vor and unction, and hundreds flocked to hear him 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 117 

from the neighboring parishes. This produced 
inquiry, and he found it necessary to give explana- 
tions in reference to the causes which had ef- 
fected such a change in his ministry. In this 
view the following will be read with interest and 
profit: 

" And here I cannot but record the effect of an 
actual though undesigned experiment which I prose- 
cuted upwards of tw^elve years amongst you. For 
the greater part of that time I could expatiate on 
the meanness of dishonesty, on the villany of false- 
hood, on the despicable arts of calumny — in a word 
upon all those deformities of character which awa- 
ken the natural indignation of the human heart 
against the pests and the disturbers of society. Now, 
could I, upon the strength of these warm expostu- 
lations, have got the thief to give up his stealing, 
and the evil speaker his censoriousness, and the 
liar his deviations from truth, I should have felt 
all the repose of one who had gotten his ultimate 
object. It never occurred to me that all this might 
have been done, and yet every soul of every hearer 
have remained in full alienation from God ; and 
that even could I have established in the bosom of 
one who stole such a principle of abhorrence at the 
meanness of dishonesty that he was prevailed upon 
to steal no more, he might still have retained a 
heart as completely unturned to God, and as to- 
tally unpossessed of a principle of love to Him as 
before. In a word, though I might have made him 
a more upright and honorable man, I might have 
left him as destitute of the essence of religious 



118 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

principle as ever. But the interesting fact is that 
during the whole of that period in which I made 
no attempt against the natural enmity of the mind 
to God, while I was inattentive to the way in which 
this enmity is dissolved, even by the free offer on 
the one hand, and the beheving acceptance on the 
other, of the Gospel salvation ; while Christ, through 
whose blood the sinner, who by nature stands afar 
off, is brought near to the Heavenly Lawgiver 
whom he has offended, was scarcely ever spoken 
of, or spoken of in such a way as stripped him of 
all the importance of his character and offices, 
even at this time I certainly did press the reforma- 
tions of honor, and truth, and integrity among my 
people ; but I never even heard of any such refor- 
mations being effected amongst them. If there 
was anything at all brought about in this way, it 
was more than I ever got any account of I am 
not sensible that all the vehemence with which I 
urged the virtues and the proprieties of social life 
had the weight of a feather on the moral habits of 
my parishioners. And it was not till I got im- 
pressed with the utter alienation of the heart in its 
desires and affections from God ; it was not till 
reconciliation to Him became the distinct and the 
prominent object of my ministerial exertions ; it was 
not till I took the scriptural way of laying the 
method of reconciliation before them ; it was 
not till the free offer of forgiveness through the 
blood of Christ was urged upon their acceptance, 
and the Holy Spirit given through the channel of 
Christ's mediatorship to all who ask him, was set 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 119 

before them as the unceasing object of their de- 
pendence and their prayers ; it was not, in one 
word, till the contemplations of my people were 
turned to these great and essential elements in the 
business of a soul providing for its interest with 
God, and the concerns of its eternity, that I ever 
heard of any of those subordinate reformations 
which I aforetime made the earnest and the zeal- 
ous, but I am afraid, at the same time, ultimate ob- 
ject of my earlier ministrations. To servants, 
whose scrupulous fidelity has now attracted the 
notice and drawn forth, in my hearing, a delightful 
testimony from your masters, what mischief ye 
would have done, had your zeal for doctrines and 
sacraments been accompanied by the sloth and re- 
missness, and what, in the prevailing tone of moral 
relaxation, is counted the allowable purloining of 
your earlier days ! But a sense of your heavenly 
Master's eye has brought another influence to bear 
upon you ; and while you are thus striving to 
adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour in all 
things, you may, poor as you are, reclaim the great 
ones of the land to the acknowledgment of the 
faith. You have, at least, taught me that to preach 
Christ, is the only effective way of preaching mo- 
rality in all its branches ; and out of your humble 
cottages have I gathered a lesson, which I pray 
God I may be enabled to carry with all its sim- 
plicity into a wider theatre, and to bring, with all 
the power of its subduing efficacy upon the vices 
of a more crowded population." 

In 1815 Dr. Chalmers was translated to the 



120 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND 

Tron church of Glasgow, and here displayed all 
the resources of his brilliant and vigorous mind. 
Fired with a generous ardor for the salvation of 
souls, he poured the truth of God upon rapt and 
crowded congregations. In addition to the inde- 
fatigable performance of his ministerial duties, he 
embarked with eagerness in plans for the ameliora- 
tion of the condition of the poor. He urged the 
importance of free school education, and although 
he had to encounter much prejudice, he accom- 
plished a large amount of good for the city of 
Glasgow. His views upon this subject are deve- 
loped in a large work, published at the time, on the 
** Christian and Civic Condition of Large Towns," — 
a production somewhat elaborate and diffuse, but 
abounding in important suggestions and earnest 
appeals. 

In 1816 he was invited to preach before the 
King's Commissioner in the High Church of Edin- 
burgh. His discourse on that occasion comprised 
the essence of his astronomical sermons, and was 
probably " as magnificent a display of eloquence as 
was ever heard from the pulpit." The effect upon 
the audience was immediate and electric. It broke 
upon them like a shower of light from the opening 
heavens. By means of this discourse his fame was 
perhaps first widely established. From that day 
crowds followed him wherever he went, and, to 
quote his own words, he began to feel the burden 
" of a popularity of stare, and pressure and animal 
heat." 

In 1819 Dr. Chalmers removed to the new church 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 121 

and parish of St. John's, in which place the writer, 
while a student at Glasgow College, had the plea- 
sure of hearing some of his thrilling discourses. 
He was then in the hey-day of life, full of mental 
and bodily vigor, and preached with a rapidity, 
force, and pathos perfectly overwhelming. He 
continued to devote himself to the interests of the 
poor, and indeed took part in every plan which 
contemplated the welfare of society. 

In 1823 he was elected Professor of Moral Phi- 
losophy in the University of St. Andrews, " where 
he imparted a very different character to this course 
from the mere worldly cast which it too generally 
assumes in our universities." Firmly convinced of 
the great truths of the Gospel, he infused into his 
prelections the spirit of a profound and earnest 
godliness. While here, he also delivered a sepa- 
rate course of lectures on Political Economy, as 
connected with the chair of Moral Philosophy. 

It may be supposed from his frequent changes 
that Dr. Chalmers was either a fickle or an ambi- 
tious man. But those best acquainted with the 
circumstances, feel assured that this could not pos- 
sibly have been the case. He neither increased 
his income nor his popularity by means of these 
changes, and all, we doubt not, were made with a 
view to greater usefulness. In one instance, cer- 
tainly, he proved his disinterestedness by refusing 
the most wealthy living in the Church of Scotland, 
the west parish of Greenock, which was presented 
to him by the patron. 

He was more than once offered an Edinburgh 

11 



122 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

church, but uniformly declined it ; as he had long 
conceived that his widest sphere of usefulness was 
a theological chair. He was accordingly elected 
to this office, in the University of Edinburgh, and 
soon attracted the attention of a large and enthu- 
siastic class of students. His lectures were able 
and brilliant ; but this, in our judgment, was not the 
principal cause of his success. It consisted, as 
we believe, in his own ardor and enthusiasm, and 
the consequent ardor and enthusiasm which he in- 
spired in his pupils. " At one time the object of 
the young men seemed to be to evade attendance 
on the Divinity Lecture ; now the difficulty be- 
came to get a good place to hear their eloquent 
instructor." By this means much good was accom- 
plished for the Church of Scotland, by diffiising 
amongst its ministry a true evangelical spirit. 
Still we believe that Dr. Chalmer's true sphere of 
labor was the pulpit, and that here alone he could 
exert his widest influence. It is true he preached 
occasionally while occupying the chair of Divinity, 
and gave a series of lectures on Church Establish- 
ments, which at that time he earnestly defended. 
" He considered that each established church 
throughout the land may be termed a centre of 
emanation, from which Christianity, with proper 
zeal, be made to move by an aggressive and con- 
verting operation, on the wide mass of the people ; 
whilst a dissenting chapel he views as a centre of 
attraction only for those who are religiously dis- 
posed." Recently the Doctor has found his centre 
of emanation sadly curtailed. The union of church 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 128 

and state has proved, even to him, a prodigious 
hindrance and difficulty — a proof this, that theory 
and fact are very different things. 

It w^as while Professor of Theology in Edin- 
burgh, as we believe, that he visited London, and 
attracted so much attention by his sermons and 
lectures. While there, Mr. Canning, Lord Castle- 
reagh. Lord Eldon, the Duke of Sussex, with seve- 
ral branches of the Royal Family, whom, as the 
journals remarked, " they were not accustomed to 
elbow at a place of worship," were found anxiously 
waiting to hear this modern Chrysostom. Caught 
by the irresistible charm of true genius and piety, 
they listened with wonder and delight to his honest 
and earnest appeals. They felt and acknowledged 
that his sermons, " as far transcended those of the 
mawkish productions to be frequently met with, as 
does the genius of Milton or of Newton surpass 
that of the common herd of poets and philosophers." 
It was a sublime sight to behold crowds of all ranks 
and conditions hstening devoutly to the vehement 
exhortations of this man of God. 

'' Can earth afford 
Such genuine state, pre-eminence, so free, 
As when arrayed in Christ's authority, 
He from the pulpit lifts his awful hand ; 
Conjures, implores, and labors all he can 
In resubjecting to Divine command 
The stubborn spirit of rebellious man ?" 

Wordsworth. 

Dr. Chalmers, as all are aware, is the principal 
leader of the Free Church movement. He has 



124 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

uniformly asserted the supremacy of Christ in his 
own church, and the right of the people to the elec- 
tion of their pastors. This being denied and with- 
held by the legal authorities in Scotland, Dr. Chal- 
mers, and the noble host of ministers and churches 
that agreed with him, departed in a body from " the 
Established Kirk." In 1843 he relinquished his 
station as Professor of Theology in the University ; 
and since that time has occupied the same office, in 
connection with "the Free Church of Scotland." 
He is now considerably advanced in years. His 
head is silvered with gray, and much of his natural 
strength is abated. But his mind is yet clear and 
strong, his heart calm and joyful ; and we can only 
hope and pray that he may be spared many years 
to come, as an ornament to his country, and an 
honor to the Church. 

It is not our pupose in this place to say much on 
the subject of the published works of Dr. Chalmers. 
These are quite volumnious. The EngHsh edition 
of his works consists of twenty-five duodecimo 
volumes. Of these the two first volumes on Nat- 
ural Theology J the third and fourth on the Evi- 
dences of Christianity , the fifth on Moral Philoso- 
phy, the sixth. Commercial Discourses, the seventh, 
Astronomical Discourses, and the last four on 
PauVs Epistle to the Romans, are the most inte- 
resting and valuable.* In style and arrangement, 



=* AU these, with the addition of four volumes of Sermons, form- 
ing the Theological Works of Dr. Chalmers, have been repub- 
lished, in handsome form, by Mr. Carter of New York. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 125 

n logic and definition, they possess some obvious 
defects, but ever indicate a genius of the highest 
order, a heart burning with love and zeal, a con- 
science void of oflfence tov^ard God and toward 
all men ; and a devotion, akin to that of angels and 
the spirits of just men made perfect.* 

* In the introduction to " Vinet's Vital Christianity,^ I have 
given a more elaborate estimate of the mental peculiarities of Dr. 
Chalmers, in connection with those of Vinet, " the Chalmers of 
Switzerland.'' 

11* 



CHAPTER IX. 

Dr. John Brown of Edinburgh — Rev. John Brown of White- 
burn — Professor John Brown of Haddington — Rev. Dr. Cand- 
lish — Specimen of his Preaching. 

Before leaving the Edinburgh clergy, I wish to 
give you some account of the Rev. Dr. John 
Brown, minister of Broughton Place Chapel, and 
Professor of exegetical Theology in the United Se- 
cession Church, one of the most amiable and ac- 
complished of the Scottish ministers. He is the 
son of the Rev. John Brown of Whiteburn, and the 
grandson of the Rev. John Brown of Haddington, 
of whom I shall have something to say before the 
close of the chapter. 

Dr. Brown is between fifty and sixty years of 
age, with a fine form and expressive countenance. 
Rather tall and slender, he looks much as one 
might conceive the Apostle John to have done. His 
countenance is mild and dignified, nose slighly aqui- 
line, brow arched and high, eyes dark and piercing, 
and his mouth indicative of mingled firmness and 
delicacy of character. His hair, once dark as the 
ravens, bears the marks of age and thought. In 
his youth, he was extremely vigorous and active ; 
but he is evidently passing into " the sere and yel- 
low leaf.'' 

Dr. Brown is a man of decided talent, though 
distinguished more for clearness and strength of 



J 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 127 

intellect, than for genius and imagination. His 
mind is highly cultivated, but it seldom glows and 
sparkles. His discourses are always interesting 
and instructive, but not often thrilling or overpow- 
ering. They never fall below mediocrity, are al- 
ways clear, sensible and useful, but perhaps never 
rise to the highest heaven of invention. In this re- 
spect he much resembles the celebrated Dr. Ward- 
law, though, as a speaker, he is more effective. 
Dr. Wardlaw uniformly reads his sermons, Dr. 
Brown does not even use notes. He preaches 
probably from memory, as is the case with most of 
the Scottish clergy. They practice " the commit- 
ting" of their sermons from their youth, and ac- 
quire astonishing facility in this exercise, on which 
account their preaching is often distinguished as 
much for its accuracy, as its energy and freedom. 
Dr. Brown appears to great advantage in the pul- 
pit. His ease, energy, gracefulness and variety of 
tone, attitude, and expression, are equally striking. 
Occasionally he hesitates for a word, but never 
fails to find the right one. His language is re- 
markably full and accurate. His topics, too are 
uniformly well selected, clearly divided and thor- 
oughly discussed. If he does not, like Chalmers, 
awe and subdue his audience, he seldom fails to in- 
terest and instruct them. His style is lucid and 
vivacious, and well adapted to useful practical 
preaching. A tone of deep and fervid piety per- 
vades the whole, giving the impression that a 
man of God is addressing to you the messages of 
Heaven. 



128 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Dr. Brown is orthodox, but liberal in his views 
and feelings. As a theologian he belongs to 
the school of the moderate Calvinists. In con- 
nection with the late amiable and accomplished 
Dr. Balmer of Berwick, he was called to account 
some years ago, for his views of the atonement, 
which he regards not as a restricted, but as a uni- 
versal blessing, that is to say, as a blessing, in- 
tended for the benefit not of a class, but of the 
whole world. This gave rise to a war of words, and 
to much useless recrimination in the courts of the 
United Secession Church, which have left the mat- 
ter pretty much where it was before. Dr. Brown's 
views, however, are becoming prevalent in Scot- 
land. 

Dr. Brown has done much to promote the study 
of Biblical Literature, which has received compar- 
atively little attention in Scotland. As theologians 
the Scottish preachers are sound and practical, but 
with the exception of Dr. Campbell of Aberdeen, 
and Dr. McKnight of Edinburgh, they have not 
distinguished themselves for their critical investi- 
gations. A new spirit begins to prevail among 
them. The highly respectable denomination with 
which Dr. Brown is connected, is making rapid 
advances in this interesting branch of Biblical 
study. 

Dr. Brown has taken an active part in the dis- 
cussion of the question touching the seperation of 
Church and State, and has published one or two 
pamphlets upon the subject. In polemics he has 
always evinced a sober and generous spirit. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 129 

The family, from which the subject of these re- 
marks is descended, has been highly distinguished 
for its talents and piety. The most of its members 
have been eminent and useful preachers for several 
generations. Dr. Brown's father, the Rev. John 
Brown, of Whiteburn, was for many years one of 
the most devout and useful ministers of the Seces- 
sion Church. Indeed, he was a perfect patriarch 
in the rural district, where he exercised his minis- 
try. Every one knew him and loved him, as a man 
of singular goodness and apostolic zeal. When a 
boy the writer used to attend his church, and well 
does he remember his meek and venerable counte- 
nance, and the thrilling tones of his musical voice. 
He rode about his parish on an old white pony, fat 
and good-natured hke his master ; and never failed, 
when he met one of his youthful parishioners, to 
stop and enter into conversation with him. " Weel, 
my lad," he would say, patting my head, " how 
d'ye do — and how's your faither, and how's your 
mither ? And a' the family, are they weel ? Gie 
them my compliments. And now you maun be a 
good boy ; dinna forget to say your prayers, and 
God will bless you. Gude day !" So off he would 
amble .with a benignant smile, leaving a sweet and 
holy impression behind him, not forgotten to this 
very day. In preaching, Mr. Brown had a pecu- 
liar tone or tune, which at times was perfectly 
thrilling. He frequently used the Scottish dialect 
in the more pathetic and practical parts of his dis- 
courses, and by this means produced a great im- 
pression upon his simple-hearted hearers. His 



130 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

style, too, was naturally quaint and terse, and this, 
set off by his benignant look, his varied and tender 
tones, often made his sermons verv memorable. 
Some of his illustrations I remember now, though 
I ceased to hear him preach in my eighth year, 
having been removed to another part of the coun- 
try. The following are specimens, perhaps not the 
best that might be given, but certainly characteris- 
tic. ** There are three sorts of folks in the world ; 
the butterfly, the wasp, and the bee. The butterfly 
is the gaudy fool, the wasp is the malicious wicked, 
but the bee is the gude Christian !" Imagine this, 
and the following, uttered with a peculiar sing-song 
and most expressive look and emphasis. " When 
ye see reek coming out at the chimney, ye may 
conclude there's fire in the house ; so, when ye 
hear a man cursing and swearing, ye may be sure 
that the fire of hell is kindled in that man's heart !" 
" O my friends, hold on and persevere in the good 
ways of the Lord. A few more losses and crosses, 
a few more troubles and trials, and we'll cross the 
swellings o' Jordan, and then, O then, we'll sit and 
sing thegither on the hills of Zion !" " Fear not, 
little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give 
you the kingdom. O the heart of our heavenly Fa- 
ther is a heart of tenderness and love. He will 
never leave you, nor forsake you. Why, only 
think on't — ye'r his ain dear bairns ; he'll tak you by 
the han', and lead you through the wilderness, till 
he bring you safe to the Heavenly Canaan, the hame 
of his children, the inheritance of his family !" 
Good old man ! he has gone, long since, to that 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 131 

blessed " hame " where faithful ministers meet their 
beloved flocks, and " sing together on the hills of 
Zion !" 

Mr. Brown had a brother Ebenezer, minister of 
Inverkeithing, who was still more distinguished as 
a preacher. In his boyhood he was " a great 
rogue," and used to teaze his ** douce" and pious 
brother John, and occasion a good deal of trouble 
to his worthy father. But he was converted when 
a young man, and became an exceedingly devout 
and eloquent preacher. I had the pleasure of hear- 
ing him preach once in the open air, at a sacramen- 
tal occasion connected with his brother's congrega- 
tion in Whiteburn, but have a very indistinct recol- 
lection of the discourse. But I well remember his 
earnest look, and the thrilling tones of his powerful 
voice. He was of small stature, but spoke with 
great force and vehemence, and occasionally with 
the same sing-song voice, common among the old 
Scottish preachers. The congregation was rapt : 
a solemn stillness pervaded the atmosphere all 
around, so that one could hear the chirpings of the 
grasshopper, and the song of the bird in the neigh- 
boring woods, during the pauses of his long and 
earnest sentences. 

The father of John Brown of Whiteburn, and 
grandfather of Dr. John Brown of Edinburgh, was 
the celebrated professor John Brown, author of the 
Self-Interpreting Bible, Exposition of the Assem- 
bly's Shorter Catechism, and other works ; and 
teacher of Theology in the United Secession Church. 
He was an extraordinary man. When a poor 



132 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

shepherd boy, he conceived the idea of learning 
Latin and Greek, and having procured a few old 
books, actually accomplished the task, w^hile tend- 
ing his cattle on the hills. So successful was he, 
that some of the old and superstitious people in 
the neighborhood concluded that he must have 
been assisted by " the evil spirit." On one occa- 
sion he went to Edinburgh, plaided and barefoot, 
walked into a bookseller's shop, and asked for a 
Greek Testament. " What are you going to do 
with a Greek Testament?" said the bookseller. 
" Read it," was the prompt reply. ** Read it !" ex- 
claimed the sceptical bookseller, with a smile ; " ye 
may have it for nothing if ye'll read it." Taking 
the book, he quietly read off a few verses, and gave 
the translation ; on which he was permitted to carry 
off the Greek Testament in triumph. 

Professor Brown was an eminently holy man. 
He was equally distinguished for his simplicity and 
dignity of character. His preaching was much 
admired by old and judicious persons. On one oc- 
casion, wiien he and others were assisting a brother 
minister in services preparatory to the celebration 
of the Lord's Supper, which services in Scotland 
usually take place on the last days of the week pre- 
ceding the "sacramental sabbath," and are fre- 
quently held in the open air, a couple of gay young 
men had been out hunting, and on their return home 
drew near to the large congregation who were 
listening at that moment to the preaching of an 
eloquent but somewhat showy divine. After stand- 
ing a few moments, the one said to the other, " Did 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 133 

you ever hear such preaching as that ?" " No," he 
rephed with an oath, " but he don't beHeve a word 
of it !" After this preacher had closed, there stood 
up, in the " tent," (a temporary pulpit erected in the 
open air for the accommodation of the ministers,) 
an old, humble looking man, who announced his text 
in a trembling voice, as if he were afraid to speak 
in God's name. He went on, and became more and 
more interesting, more and more impressive. The 
young men were awed, and listened with reverent 
attention to the close, when the one, turning to the 
other, said, " And what d'ye think of that ?" '* Think 
of it," he replied, " I don't know what to think. 
Why, didn't you see how every now and then he 
turned round in the tent, as if Jesus Christ were 
behind him, and he was asking, ' Lord, what shall 
I say next V " This preacher was John Brown, 
the secret of whose pulpit eloquence was, the inspi- 
ration of an humble and contrite heart, touched by 
the finger of the Almighty ; an eloquence as far trans- 
cending that of the mere orator as the divine and 
heavenly transcends the human and earthly. This 
too, was the eloquence of the early Scottish preach- 
ers, — of Knox and Rutherford, of Guthrie and Ers- 
kine, of Cameron and Boston. This fired the hearts 
of the people with a holy and all-conquering zeal ; 
this shed a glory over the death of the martyrs, and 
diflTused among their descendants the love of " the 
Covenant" and the love of God. May this ever 
continue to be the eloquence not only of the Church 
in Scotland but of the Church throughout the world ! 
There is one other preacher in Edinburgh, ol 

12 



134 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

whom it would be desirable to give a full-length 
portrait. I refer to Dr. Candlish, certainly one of 
the most popular and effective preachers in the 
Free Church of Scotland. But I am not in pos- 
session of the materials for such a portrait, having 
heard him preach only once, and being imperfectly 
acquainted with the events of his life. He is pro- 
bably about forty-five years of age, rather short of 
stature, and not particularly imposing or prepos- 
sessing in appearance. His face is rather long and 
sallow, but set off by an immense forehead, dark 
bushy hair, and a pair of fine black eyes. He 
stands bolt upright in the pulpit, and speaks in a 
clear, strong, deliberate, yet rapid voice. Judging 
from his published discourses, and the single speci- 
men which I heard, I should think him destitute of 
pathetic power. He is evidently most at home in 
the regions of ratiocination. His language is copi- 
ous, energetic, and harmonious. In clearness and 
finish it is decidedly superior to that of Chalmers, 
and little inferior to Robert Hall's. It possesses a 
stateliness, combined with a bounding energy, which 
render it very effective. His method is remarkably 
lucid, and his reasoning strong and convincing. In 
fancy, in touching pathos, in overwhelming energy, 
in the vivid lightning flashes of genius, he is greatly 
inferior to Chalmers ; but in clearness of definition, 
in compactness and purity of style, in strength of 
logic, and in completeness of arrangement and 
finish, he must be acknowledged superior. His 
discourses are highly evangelical. They abound in 
clear and instructive statements, and defences of 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 135 

the cardinal truths of the Gospel. If deficient, it 
is in directness and pungency of appeal, in holy 
pathos, in solemn and subduing unction. 

As a debater, Dr. Candhsh stands pre-eminent. 
He may not possess the ponderous strength of 
Cunningham, the overpowering energy of Chal- 
mers, the quick and versatile humor of Guthrie, or 
the eloquent polish of Buchanan. But he posses- 
ses, in unusual combination, clearness of method, 
logical acumen, force and beauty of style, and an 
easy, graceful, commanding elocution. When 
Chalmers dies, v^e predict that Candhsh will be 
the leader in the courts of the Free Church of 
Scotland. 

Dr. Candhsh has published quite a number of 
occasional sermons, and a volume of lectures on 
the record of the Creation in the book of Genesis. 
These lectures are interesting and instructive, but 
to our taste, they are too diffuse and elaborate, and 
not sufficiently critical, or rather exegetical and 
compact. They say much about a thing, without 
actually saying the thing itself. But this is rather 
the fault of their design or plan, than of their ex- 
ecution, which as a whole indicates a high degree 
of talent. They contain many fine passages, and 
valuable suggestions. 

Among his published discourses, one of the best 
is on the " Incompetency of Reason, and the Fit- 
ness of Revelation ;" from iVcts xvii. 23. " Whom 
therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto 
you." The following passage from that discourse 
will give a fair idea of his power. Speaking of 



136 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

the mournful condition of those who delight to in- 
vestigate the works of God, but have never found 
God himself, he says : — " They may feel a proud 
and high satisfaction, arising from the importance 
of the knowledge acquired in the successful em- 
ployment of their powers and faculties of mind. 
But brethren, they scarcely meet, in all the various 
and diversified tracks which they take, and in all 
the endless varieties of objects which encounter 
their judgments — they scarcely ever meet their 
God ; they scarcely ever find him in the way ; 
they scarcely ever seek him. In the wondrous el- 
ements, the richly scattered treasures of power, and 
wisdom and goodness, through which they make 
their progress, they cannot shut their eyes to the 
presence of God ; they must acknowledge a God : 
but it is God with attributes of their own choosing, 
not the God of Scripture, — the God of nature, not 
the God of justice. Him they exclude from their 
view ; Him they do not like to retain in their 
thoughts ; and in the circumstances in which they 
cultivate the idea of a God, if mingling in their re- 
searches at all, they strip their ideas of all which 
might remind them of their unsettled controversy 
with Him. Conceive of a man in such a state, so 
blind as to have exercised his powers of discovery, 
in the full blaze of all the glory and the terrible 
majesty of a just God and a Saviour, without re- 
ally finding him, condemned to carry on his future 
work of discovery with a clear and startling ap- 
prehension of all the moral attributes of God — his 
holiness, — his justice, — his truth — all as manifested 



GENIUS OP SCOTLAND. 137 

in the cross of Christ, and all still carried on in a 
carnal mind and a self-condemned heart. Where 
now will be the joy of his lofty inquiries ? Where 
now the triumph of his lofty powers of knowl- 
edge ? Every object he contemplates now, is con- 
nected with the idea of a righteous God ; every 
subject he can examine now, is fraught with the 
presence of a righteous God ; every new ray of 
light that meets his eye, reveals to him a righteous 
God ; every sound carries to his ear the name of 
God, repeated by a thousand echoes. He can 
make no experiment now that will not show him 
more of the wonders and terrors of God. He can 
look at nothing, he can think of nothing, that does 
not speak to him of God, and remind him of his 
justice : and all the bold traces of his profound 
discoveries regarding nature, now do but suggest 
reminiscences of nature's God as a God of judg- 
ment ; and so the very faculty which was ever his 
pride and admiration, — the capacity of deep reflec- 
tion and enlightened inquiry, does but add new 
sting and torture to his reprobate mind, by sug- 
gesting always, everywhere, and in all things, new 
images and representations of that awful, that Al- 
mighty Being, whom he has chosen to make his 
foe." 

12* 



CHAPTER X. 

Ride into the Country — The Skylark — Poems on the Skylark by 
Shelley and the ^ Ettrick Shepherd'— Newhall—' The Gentle 
Shepherd' — Localities and Outlines of the Story — Its Popu- 
* larity in Scotland. 

'Tis a beautiful morning in early June. The 
sun is peeping over Arthur's Seat, and glancing 
from the turrets of the old Castle. The carriage is 
ready, and Sandy the driver is cracking his w^hip 
with impatience. So, take your place, and let us 
be off. Passing ' Bruntsfield Links' we plunge 
into the very heart of the country, so rich and va- 
ried, with park and woodland scenery, handsome 
villas, and sweet acclivities. Yonder is Merchis- 
ton Castle, the birth-place of the celebrated Napier, 
the inventor of Logarithms. A little further on, 
we reach the smiling village of Morningside, and 
pass some pretty country residences, with plea- 
sant grounds and picturesque views. We enter a 
narrow and thickly wooded dell, through which 
tinkles a small rivulet, called the Braid Burn. At 
the bottom we come to the Braid Hermitage, as 
sweet a sylvan retreat as ever greeted the eye of 
the rural wanderer. Those rocky heights above 
us are the Braid Hills, from which can be enjoyed 
some of the most splendid views in Scotland. 
Leaving the carriage a few minutes we ascend 
that lofty eminence, and gaze, with delight upon 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 139 

the vast and beautiful landscape, including the city 
of Edinburgh, the Firth of Forth, with its " eme- 
rald islands," and the winding shores of Fife in 
the distance. Blackford hill, a little to the north 
of us is the spot mentioned in " Marmion :" 

" StiU on the spot Lord Marmion stay'd, 
For fairer scene he ne'er survey 'd, 
When sated with the martial show 
That peopled all the plains below, 
The wandering eye could o'er it go. 
And mark the distant city glow 

With gloomy splendor red ; 
For on the smoke wreaths, huge and slow, 
That round her sable turrets flow, 

The morning beams were shed, 
And tinged them with a lustre proud, 
Like that which streaks a thunder cloud ; 
Such dusky grandeur clothed the height, 
Where the huge castle holds its state, 

And all the steep slope down, 
Whose ridgy back heaves to the sky, 
Piled deep and massy, close and high, 

Mine own romantic town ! 

But northward far with purer blaze 
On Ochil mountains fell the rays. 
And as each heathy top they kiss'd, 
Jt gleamed a purple amethyst. 
Yonder the shores of Fife you saw ; 
Here Preston Bay, and Berwick-Law j 

And broad between them roll'd 
The gallant Firth the eye might note. 
Whose islands on its bosom float, 

Like emeralds chased in gold." 

Descending from the hill we resume our journey, 
musing on the days of old, when " shrill fife and 
martial drum" awakened the echoes of these peace. 



140 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

ful vales, now resounding with the melody of birds. 
How delightful the gushing music of those sky- 
larks, which descends upon us from " heaven's 
gates," like a shower of "embodied gladness." 
Why, it seems as if a hundred of them were soar- 
ing " i' the lift," and singing with a joyous energy, 
akin to that of the blessed spirits in heaven. To 
me, the lark is the noblest of all birds, the most 
pure and spirit-like of all aerial songsters. In Scot- 
land, too, she seems to sing the sweetest and strong- 
est. Others may praise the nightingale, if the}^ 
please, and my own heart has often thrilled, to hear, 
at the " witching time of night," her wild and mel- 
ancholy strain from some English copsewood, or 
Italian grove. But nothing so rich and beautiful, 
so spirit-like and divine ever greeted my ear as the 
glad singing of the heaven-aspiring lark. It seemed 
as if the very spirit of song had taken wings, and 
were ascending to God, in a flood of melody. But 
listen to the following strains written by Shelley 
under the inspiration of the sky-lark's song : 

Hail to thee, blithe spirit, 

Bird thou never wert, 
That from heaven or near it 

Pourest thy full heart 
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 

Higher still and higher 

From the earth thou springest. 
Like a cloud of fire ! 

The blue deep thou wingest, 
And singing, still dost soar ; and soaring, ever singest. 

In the golden lightning 
Of the sunken sun, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 141 

O'er which clouds are brightening, 
Thou dost float and run ; 
Like an embodied joy, whose race has just begun. 



All the earth and air 

With thy voice is loud, 
As, when night is bare 

From one lonely cloud. 
The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed. 

What thou art, we know not. 

What is most like thee ? 
From rainbow clouds there flow not 
Drops so bright to see, 
As from thy presence showers a rain of melody 

Like a poet hidden 

In the light of thought. 
Singing hymns unbidden 

Till the world is wrought 
To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not. 



Sound of vernal showers 

On the twinkling grass, 
Rain awakened flowers, 

All that ever was 
Joyous and fresh and clear thy music doth surpass. 

Teach me, sprite or bird. 
What sweet thoughts are thine : 

I have never heard 
Praise of love or wine 
That panted tbrth a flood of rapture so divine. 

Chorus hymeneal 

Or triumphant chaunt, 
Matched with thine would be all 

But an empty vaunt — 
A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want. 



142 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

What objects are the fountains 

Of thy happy strain ? 
What fields or waves or mountains? 

What shapes of sky or plain ? 
What love of thine own kind ? What ignorance of pain ? 

With thy clear keen joyance 

Languor cannot be : 
Shadow of annoyance 
Never came near thee : 
Thou lovest, but ne'er knew love's sad satiety 

Waking or asleep 

Thou of death must deem, 
Things more true and deep 
Than we mortals dream, 
Or how could thy note flow in such a crystal stream? 

We look before and after, 

And pine for what is not j 
Our sincerest laughter, 
With some pain is fraught : 
Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest thought. 

Better than all measures 

Of delightful sound, 
Better than all treasures 
That in books are found, 
Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground I 

Teach me half the gladness. 

That thy brain must know ; 
Such harmonious madness 

From my lips would flow, 
The world should listen then, as I am listening now. 

Inferior to this, but still very beautiful, more 
natural, and more especially Scottish, are the fol- 
lowing lines to the Skylark by the " Ettrick Shep- 
herd:" 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 143 

Bird of the wilderness, 

Blitliesome and cumberless, 
Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea ! 

Emblem of happiness, 

Blest is thy dwelling place — 
O to abide in the desert with thee ! 

Wild is thy lay and loud, 

Far in the downy cloud, 
Love gives it energy, love gave it birth. 

Where on thy dewy wing, 

Where art thou journeying? 
Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth. 

O'er fell and fountain sheen, 

O'er moor and mountain green. 
O'er the red streamer that heralds the day, 

Over the cloudlet dim, 

Over the rainbow's rim. 
Musical cherub, soar singing away ! 

Then when the gloaming comes 

Low in the heather blooms, 
Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be ! 

Emblem of happiness. 

Blest is thy dwelling place — 
O to abide in the desert with thee ! 

Filled with these pleasant images, we pursue our 
journey, and wind along the edge of the Pentland 
Hills, with their thrilling memories of " Auld-lang- 
syne ;" pass the " bonnie braes" of Woodhouselee, 
and reach old Glencorse Church, "bosomed high 
*mong tufted trees ;" cross " a bonnie burn," called 
" Logan Water," and get a glimpse of " House of 
Muir," in the vicinity of which the old Scottish 
Covenanters met with a terrible slaughter, from 
General Dalzell of Binns, the " bluidy Dalzell," as 
the Scots call him to this day. Passing through the 
humble village of Silver Burn, we reach Newhall, 



144 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

once the residence of Dr. Penny cuick, a poet and an 
antiquary, and subsequently of the Forbes family 
highly distinguished for their talents and virtues. 
Disposing of our carriage, let us ramble, at our 
"own sweet will," amid those beautiful grounds. 
The mansion of Newhall, once a battlemented cas- 
tle of the Crichton family, stands on the left bank of 
the North Esk, within a curvature of the stream, 
under the shadow of the Pentland Hills. On either 
side is a deep ravine, terminating in the glen of the 
Esk, one of the most romantic spots in Scotland. 
Passing round on the eastern side, we gaze down 
into the ravine, overhung by the remains of a small 
round tower, and densely shaded with tangled 
trees. A dark rill gurgles at the bottom, here and 
there leaping into beautiful cascades, and flinging 
its glittering spray among the dark woods. Pass- 
ing to the other side, we come to what was formerly 
the site of an old prison and chapel, encircled by a 
pleasant walk. The ravine beneath is filled with 
trees and shrubbery, but has no stream. From this 
point the eye glances up through the wooded glen, 
echoing with the songs of the mavis and the linnet, 
and over to a mineral well, sheltered by copsewood 
and pines. 

But Newhall, and the grounds around it, derive 
their chief interest from their connection with the 
well-known pastoral poem of "Allan Ramsay." 
The very air seems redolent with the poetry of 
" The Gentle Shepherd." Leaving the house, we 
reach a little " haugh," or low sheltered spot, where 
the Esk and the rivulets from the Harbour Craig 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 145 

mingle their waters. At the side of the stream are 
some romantic gray crags, directly fronting the 
south, and looking up a turn in the glen. These, 
adorned with green birches, shrubs, and copsewood, 
and shading the limpid stream which makes a curve, 
and then glides underneath their overhanging cliffs, 
form " a shady bield," completely protected from 
observation. In this spot is laid the first act of 
" The Gentle Shepherd." 

" Beneath the south side of a craggy field. 
Where crystal springs the halesome vater yield, 
Twa youthful shepherds on the gowans lay, 
Tenting their flocks ae bonny morn of May." 

Ascending the vale, and just behind the house, 
we come to a considerable holm or green, with the 
babbling burn, now gentler in its movement, wind- 
ing sweetly among the white pebbles. At the head 
of this quiet retreat, on the edge of the burn, are the 
ruins of an ancient washing-house, protected by an 
aged thorn. It was here that the "twa lasses" 
proposed to wash their " claes," unseen by their 
lovers, 

" A flowery howm between twa verdant braes, 
Where lasses use to wash and spread their claes, 
A trotting burnie wimpling through the ground ; 
Its channel pebbles shining smooth and round." 

A little further up the burn we come to a hollow, 
a little beyond what is called "Mary's Bower," 
where the Esk divides it in the middle, and forms a 
linn or cascade, called the " How Burn ;" a small 
enclosure above is called the " Braehead Park ;" and 

13 



146 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

this hollow beneath the cascade with its bathing 
pool and little green, its rocks and birches, its wild 
shrubs and natural flowers, and general air of 
sequestered and romantic beauty, in every respect 
corresponds with the poet's exquisite description of 
the spot called " Habbie's Howe." 

" Gae farer up the burn to Habbie's Howe, 

Where a' the sweets o' spring and summer grow, 
There, 'tween twa birks out ower a little linn, 
The water fa's and mak's a singand din •* 
A pule breast deep, beneath as clear as glass, 
Kisses wP easy whirls the bordering grass.'^ 

Ascending yet further, at a place called the 
** Carlops," (a contraction of " Carline's Loups," so 
called, in consequence of a witch or carline having 
been seen leaping, at night, from one rock to an- 
other,) two tall rocks shoot up on either side. Near 
this, by the side of that old ash tree, stood Mausers 
Cottage. 

" The open field, a cottage in a glen. 
An auld wife spinning at the sunny end. 
At a sma' distance, by a blasted tree, 
Wi faulded arms and half-raised look, ye see 

Bauldy his lane !"t 

" A green kail-yard ; a little fount, 
Where water poplin springs ; 
There sits a wifej wi' wrinkled front. 
An' yet she spins and sings." 

With these localities in our mind, let us sit down 
on this " gowan'd brae," and run over the story of 
" The Gentle Shepherd," one of the most graphic 

* Singing noise. f Alone. t Old woman. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. H"* 

pictures of Scottish manners, and one of the sweet 
est pastorals in any language. 

Patie or Patrick, a humble shepherd-lad, born 
and bred in the region we have entered, about the 
middle of the seventeenth century, was a handsome 
fellow, and remarkably distinguished for his good 
temper and rustic accomplishments. He was of a 
gay-hearted cheerful disposition, and made the 
woods and hills ring again with his mirthful songs. 
Moreover, he was sensible and well-informed. His 
mind, indeed, was superior to his station ; still he 
was contented and happy. 

Symon Scott, a worthy man and a wealthy 
farmer, with whom Patie had lived from his child- 
hood, was a tenant of Sir William Preston's, owner 
of the neighboring lands, who, to save his head, he 
having taken part with the royalists, had fled his 
native country, and was living abroad, no one 
knew where. 

Patie loved Peggy Forsyth, a " neebor lassie," 
of excellent character and great beauty, who fully 
requited his attachment. This girl was the reputed 
niece of Glaude Anderson, a comfortable farmer, 
and a tenant of Sir William's. He had found her 
one summer morning, at his door, carefully wrap- 
ped in swaddling clothes. Being a warm-hearted 
man, he had adopted the little stranger as his own 
relative. 

The interviews and conversations of the lovers, 
and their friends, Roger and Jenny, who after some 
embarrassments from Jenny's independence, are 
found to be warmly attached to each other are re- 



148 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

lated by the dramatist with great beauty and sim- 
plicity. The reader sees them at early morn, or 
amid the shadows of the gloaming, wandering by 
the " bonnie burnie's side," and with hearts of inno- 
cence, giving themselves up to the full enjoyment 
of nature's beauties and their own sweet affections. 
Glaude and Symon are fine specimens of the hon- 
est and hospitable farmers of Scotland. The house 
of the former is such as one often sees in the rural 
districts : 

•' A snug thack* house, before the door a green, 
Hens on the midden, ducks in dubsf are seen. 
On this side stands a barn, on that a byre 4 
A peat stack joins, an' forms a rural square. 
The house is Gland's ; — there you may see him lean, 
And to his divot§ seat invites his frien.^' 

The character and fate of Bauldy are graphic- 
ally described. He is a wealthy but vulgar minded 
farmer, attached to Peggy, and resolved, if possi- 
ble, to withdraw her affections from Patie and se- 
cure them for himself. For this purpose he has re- 
course to Mause, a sensible and worthy old wo- 
man, but reputed a witch, from her superiority to 
the common people. Mause agrees to assist him, 
but secretly resolves to expose his ignorance and 
punish his effrontery. The following is Bauldy's 
account of the matter : 

^- Ah ! Sir, the witch ca'd Mause, 
That wins aboon the mill amang the haws. 
First promised that she'd help me wP her art, 
To gain a bonnie thrawart|| lassie's heart. 

* Thatch, t Pools. J Barn for the cows. § Turf. H Wayward. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 14$ 

As she had trysted, I met wi' 'er this night ; 
But may nae frien o' mine get such a fright ! 
For the curst hag, instead of doing me guid, 
(The very thocht o'ts like to freeze my bluid !) 
Raised up a ghaist, or deil, I kenna whilk, 
Like a dead corse, in sheet as white as milk ; 
Black hands it had, and face as wan as death ; 
Upon me fast the witch and it fell baith, 
And got me down ; while I like a great fool 
Was 'laboured* as I used to be at school : 
My heart out o' its hoolf was like to loup, 
I pithlessi grew wi' fear, an' had nae houp. 
Till wi' an elritch laugh, they vanished quite ; 
Syne I, hauf dead wi' anger, fear and spite, 
Crap up, and fled straught frae them." 

Tidings had arrived that Sir William, who had 
now been absent several years, might be expected 
home, as the king was restored and the royal party 
was now^ predominant. 

This tidings created the liveliest sensations of joy 
among Sir William's tenantry, as he was much be- 
loved for his kindness and generosity of disposi- 
tion. Old Symon Scott and Glaude Anderson 
were especially delighted, and resolved, each of 
them, to celebrate the event with a feast. Symon 
however had already begun to make preparations 
for a banquet, to w^hich he invited Glaude and all 
the old and young people of the neighborhood : 

" It's Symon's house, please to step in, 

And vissy't§ round and round. 
There's nought superfluous to gie pain, 
Or costly to be found. 

^ Belabored. t Place or socket, 

t Powerless. § Examine it. 

13* 



150 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Yet a' is clean — a clear peat ingle=* 

Glances amidst the floorf ; 
The green horn spoons, beech luggiesj mingle 

On skelfs§ foregainst the door. 
While the young brood sport on the green, 

The auld anes think it best, 
Wi' the brown cow|| to clear their een 

Snuff, crack and tak their rest." 

While they are engaged Sir William appears 
among the young people on the green, in the garb 
of a fortune teller. Jenny runs into the house and 
tells her father, who, particularly good-natured and 
hospitable at such an hour, replies : — 

*' Gae bring him in ; we^ll hear what he can say, 

Nane shall gae hungry by my house the day. [Exit Jenny. 

But for his telling fortunes, troth I fear 

He kens nae mair o^ that than my grey mare. 

Glaud. — Spae men !T[ the truth o' a^ their saws I doubt, 
For greater lears never ran thereout. 

[Jenny returns bringing in Sir William ; — rvith them Patie. 

Symon. — Ye're welcome honest carle, here take a seat. 

Sir W. — I gie ye thanks, gudeman, Fse be no blate.^-^ 

Glaud. — Come, t'yejt frien. How far came ye the day ? 

Sir W. — I pledge ye, neibour, e^en but little way. 

Symon. — Ye're welcome here to stay a' night wP me. 
And tak sic bed and board as we can gie. 

Sir W. — That's kind unsought. — Weel gint J ye hae a bairn, 
That ye like weel, an wad his fortune learn, 
I shall employ the farthest o' my skill. 
To spae it faithfully, be 't good or ill. 

Symon (pointing to Patie). — Only that lad : alake! I hae nae mae 
Either to mak me joyf u' now or wae. 

* A fire of peats, f In Scotland the old peasant houses have 
the fire in their centre. % Cups of beech wood. § Shelves op- 
posite the door. || Brown ale. Tl Fortune-tellers. ^^ Bashful. 
It Your health. W If. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 151 

Sir W. — Young man, let's see your hand ; what gars=*=ye sneer? 
Patie. — Because your skill 's but little worth, I fear. 
Sir W. — Ye cut before the point : but, Billy, bide, 
ni wager there's a mouse-mark on your side. 

This being the case, all are astonished at the old 
man's knowledge, who goes on to predict that 
Patie, one of these days, will be a rich laird. 

Elspa. — Hear, ye gudeman, what think ye now ? 

Symon. — I dinna ken! Strange auld man, what art thou ? 
Fair faf your heart, it 's guid to bode o' wealth 
Come, turn the timmer to laird Patie's health. 

(Fatieh health goes round.) 

Old Symon, by the request of the spaeman, goes 
out to meet him, and they have much conversation 
together. At length — 

" Sir William drops his masking beard, 
Symon transported sees 
The welcome knight, wi' fond regard, 
An' grasps him round the knees.'^ 

They converse concerning Patie, who is actually 
Sir WilUam's son and heir, and agree to make 
known his true position. This is accordingly done, 
and produces great excitement among the parties. 
Patie is glad and sorrowful at the same time, and 
Peggy sees nothing in it but disappointment and 
grief. A gulf has intervened between her and 
Patie, and she feels that she must give him up for 
ever. But Patie assures her of his constant affec- 
tion, and the "puir thing" absolutely '* greets for 
joy to hear his words sae kind." 

^ Makes. t Good befal. 



152 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Next morning — 

" While Peggy laces up her bosom fair 

WV a blue snood, Jenny binds up her hair ; 
Glaud by his morning ingle, taks a beek,* 
The rising sun shines mottyf thro' the reek,$ 
A pipe his mouth, the lasses please his een, 
An' now and then his joke must intervene.'' 

But all parties are sent for to Symon's house — 

" To hear and help to redd § some odd debate 
'Tween Mause and Bauldy, 'bout some witchcraft spell, 
At Symon's house : the knight sits judge himsell." 

All then are assembled — 

" Sir William fills the twa armed chair, 

While Symon, Roger, Glaud, and Mause, 
Attend, and wi' loud laughter hear 

Daft Bauldy bluntly plead his cause : 
For now it 's tell'd him that the taz I| 

Was handled by revengeful Madge, 
Because he brak guid breeding's laws, 

And wi' his nonsense raised their rage. 

Bauldy, however, confesses his wrong, and adds — 

"But I had best 
Hand in my tongue, for yonder comes the ghaist H 
An' the young bonny witch^ whose rosy cheek 
Sent me, without my wit, the de'il to seek." 

Sir William {looking at Peggy). — Whose daughter's she that 
wears the aurora gown, 
With face so fair, and locks o' lovely brown ? 
How sparkling are her eyes ? What 's this I find, 
The girl brings all my sister to my mind. 
Such were the features once adorned a face, 
Which death so soon deprived of sweetest grace. 
Is this your daughter Glaud ? 

* A glass of beer. f Mottled. J Smoke. 

§ Clear up, unravel. || Birch or strap. If Ghost. 



I 



( 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 153 

Glaud — Sir, she-s my niece, 
An' yet she's not, but 1 shoud hand my peace. 

Sir Wil — This is a contradiction. What d' ye mean ? 
She is, and is not ! pray thee, Glaud, explain. 

Glaud. — Because I doubt, if I should mak' appear, 
What I hae kept a secret thirteen year — 

Mause. — You may reveal what 1 can fully clear. 

Sir Wil. — Speak soon ; Fm all impatience. 

Patie. — Sae am I ! 

For much I hope, an' hardly yet ken why. 

Glaud. — Then, since my master orders, I obey. 
This honny foundling.^ ae' clear morn o' May, 
Close by the lea-side o' my door I found, 
A' sweet an' clean an' carefully hapt=^ 'round, 
In infant weeds, o' rich and gentle make. 
What could they be, thought I, did thee forsake ? 
Wha, worse than brutes, cou'd leave exposed to air 
Sae much o' innocence sae sweetly fair, 
Sae helpless young ? for she appeared to me 
Only about twa towmandsf auld to be. 
I took her in my arms ; the bairnie smiled, 
Wi' sic a look, wad mak a savage mild. 
I hid the story : she has pass'd sinsyne % 
As a poor orphan, an' a niece o' mine : 
Nor do I rue my care about the wean. 
For she's weel worth the pains that I hae tane. 
Ye see she's bonny ; I can swear she's guid, 
An' am right sure she's come o' gentle bluid, 
O' wham I kenna.§ Naething I ken mair, 
Than what I to your honor now declare. 

Sir Wil. — This tale seems strange ! 

Patie. — • The tale delights my ear ! 

Sir Wil. — Command your joys, young man, till truth appear. 

Mause. — That be my task. Now sir, bid a' be hush j 
Peggy may smile ; thou hast nae cause to blush. 
Lang hae I wish'd to see this happy day, 
That I may safely to the truth gi'e way ; 



* Covered. t Two years. | Since then. § Know not. 



154 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

That I may now Sir William Worthy name, 
The best and nearest friend that she can claim : 
He saw ^t at first, an' wi' quick eye did trace 
His sister's beauty in her daughter's face. 

Sir Wil. — Old woman, do not rave, — prove what you say, 
It's dangerous in aifairs like this to play. 

Patie. — What reason, Sir, can an auld woman have 
To tell a lie when she's sae near her grave ? 
But how or why, it should be truth I grant 
I every thing that looks like reason want. 

Omnes. — The story's odd ! we wish we heard it out. 

Sir Wil. — Make haste, good woman, and resolve each doubt. 
[Mause goes forward., leading F eg gy to Sir William.'] 

Mause. — Sir, view me weel ; has fifteen years sae plow'd 
A wrinkled face that you hae often viewed, 
That here I as an unknown stranger stand. 
Wha nursed her mother that now hands my hand ? 
Yet stronger proofs I'll gie, if you demand. 

Sir Wil. — Ha ! honest nurse, where were my eyes before ! 
I know thy faithfulness, and need no more ; 
Yet from the lab'rinth, to lead out my mind, 
Say, to expose her, who was so unkind ? 

[Sir William embraces Peggy and snakes her sit by him.] 
Yes surely thou'rt my niece ; truth must prevail, 
But no more words till Mause relates the tale." 

Mause then relates how Peggy's life being threat- 
ened by a wicked aunt, who wished to take pos- 
session of her estate, she herself had stolen her 
away, in the dead of night, and travelled with her 
some fifty miles, and left her at Gland's door ; 
that she had taken a cottage in the vicinity, and 
had watched over the child ever since. All of 
course are delighted with this discovery. The be- 
trothment of Patie and Peggy is sanctioned by Sir 
William ; and even Bauldy 

" the bewitch'd, has quite forgot 
Fell Madge's taz, and pawky Madge's plot," 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 155 

and exclaims : • 

" Fm friends wP Mause, — wi' very Madge Fm greed, 
Although they skelpit* me when woodly flied :t 
Fm now fu' blithe, an' frankly can forgive 
To join and sing, ' Lang may Sir William live.' '^ 

Sir William bestows upon " faithful Symon, 
and " kind Glaud," and upon their heirs, " in end- 
less fee," their " mailens," or farms, and takes old 
Mause into his family, in peace 

'• to close her days, 
With naught to do but sing her Makers praise.'^ 

Glaud consents to give Jenny to Roger, who says ; 

" I ne'er was guid o' speaking a' my days, 
Or ever loo'd to make o'er great a fraise ;| 
But for my master, father, an' my wife, 
I will employ the cares o' a' my life.'^ 

To which, Sir William adds, summing up the 
whole : 

" My friends I'm satisfied you'll all behave, 
Each in his station as I'd wish or crave. 
Be ever virtuous, soon or late you'll find 
Reward and satisfaction to your mind. 
The maze o' life sometimes looks dark and wild ; 
And oft when hopes are highest, we're beguiled. 
Oft when we stand on brinks of dark despair. 
Some happy turn, with joy, dispels our care." 

Thus ends the " Gentle Shepherd," which with 
all its faults, possesses an inimitable charm. In 
Scotland it is a sort of household poem. Every 
one, young and old, reads it with delight. Indeed, 

* Whipt. t Sorely frightened. J Fuss or perhaps flattering 
speech. 



156 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

it is probably the most popular pastoral drama ever 
written. The common people, in the rural dis- 
tricts of Scotland, know it by heart. The Bible, 
the Pilgrim's Progress, Robinson Crusoe and " the 
Gentle Shepherd" are read by them a thousand 
times more than any other book. 



CHAPTER XL 

Biographical Sketch of Allan Ramsay — Lasswade — Ramble along 
the banks of the North Esk — Glenesk — A Character — Anec- 
dote of Sir W. Scott — Hawthornden— 'Drummond the Poet — 
His Character and Genius — Sonnets — Chapel and Castle of 
Roslin — Barons of Roslin — Ballad of Rosabelle — Hunting 
Match between Robert Bruce and Sir William St. Clair. 

Leaving Habbie's Howe, we will let Sandy 
drive us along the banks of the river, through Au- 
chindinny, Roslin and Hawthornden, to the pretty 
village of Lasswade, where we will spend the 
night. Sandy can take the carriage back to Edin- 
burgh, and to-morrow we will ramble on foot 
through the classic shades of Roslin and Haw- 
thornden, visit Dalkeith and some other places, 
and return to Edinburgh by the railway. In the 
meantime I will give you some account of Allan 
Ramsay. 

Allan was born on the 15th of October, 1686, in 
Crawford Muir, Lanarkshire, and died in the city 
of Edinburgh, in the year 1784. He was at first 
a wigmaker, and afterwards a bookseller. In 1726 
he kept a little bookstore opposite Niddry's Wynd 
in the city of Edinburgh, whence he removed to 
another, somewhat more commodious at the east 
end of the Luckenbooths, having exchanged his 
old sign of Mercury for the heads of Ben Jonson 
and Drummond of Hawthornden, whom he greatly 

14 



158 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

admired. His early education was limited. He 
attended the village school at Leadhills, where, as 
he himself informs us, he acquired just learning 
enough to read Horace " faintly in the original." 
Of a vigorous constitution, and a cheerful temper, 
he spent his time happily in the country, till his fif- 
teenth year, though his lot seems to have been a 
hard one. 

'•' Wading througli glens wi' chorking feet, 
Where neither plaid nor kilt could fend* the weet ; 
Yet blithely would he bang out o'er the brae, 
And stend o'er burns as light as ony rae, 
Hoping the mornf might prove a better day.'' 

He went to Edinburgh, a poor country boy, and 
gradually made his way to competence, and re- 
spectability. Whether he was particularly suc- 
cessful as a wigmaker we are not informed ; but 
he found the trade of bookseller infinitely more 
congenial. Ensconced behind his counter, he 
could study, write poetry, chat with his customers, 
and publish his own lucubrations. His first princi- 
pal poem was " Christ's Kirk on the Green," a con- 
tinuation of King James's poem of the same name, 
a rough but graphic and humorous picture of rus- 
tic revelry. Its indelicacy is rather gross, but it 
has all the vigor and humor of Hogarth's pictures. 
His other poems, containing songs, fables, pasto- 
rals, complimentary verses (of which he has a very 
large number,) stories and epistles are quite nume- 
rous. They contain a large amount of trash, with 

^ Keep off. t To-morrow. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 159 

here and there some beautiful gems. He is mainly 
successful in Scottish verse. His imitations of the 
English poets are rather poor. " The Vision^^ is 
one of his ablest productions. The Genius of Scot- 
land is painted " with a touch of the old heroic 
Muse :" 

" Great daring darted frae his ee, 
A braid sword shaggled* at his knee, 

On his left arm a targe ; 
A shining spear filled his right hand, 
Of stalwart make in bane and brawnd, 

Of just proportions large ; 
A various rainbow colored plaid 
Owre his left spaulf he threw, 
Down his braid back, frae his white head 
The silver wimplersf grew. 
Amazed, I gazed 

To see, led at command, 
A stampant and rampant 
Fierce lion in his hand." 

But his most popular production is the " Gentle 
Shepherd" which appeared in 1725 — and was re- 
ceived with enthusiasm, not only in Scotland, but 
in England and Ireland. It was much admired by- 
Pope and Gay, the latter of whom, when on a 
visit to Scotland, with the Duke and Duchess of 
Queensberry, used to lounge in Allan Ramsay's 
shop, and obtain from him explanations of the Scot- 
tish expressions that he might communicate them 
to Pope. 

Allan uniformly had an eye to the " main 
chance." He sedulously courted the great, and 

*■ Dangled. t Shoulder. | Tassels or dangles. 



160 GENIUS GF SCOTLAND. 

managed to accumulate a good many pennies. " In 
the mingled spirit of prudence and poetry," he con- 
trived 

" To theek* the out and line the inside 
Of many a douce and witty pash,t 
And baith ways gathered in the cash." 

He was foolish enough however to lay out his 
gains in the erection of a theatre which was pro- 
hibited by the magistrates, as an injury to good 
morals. So that Allan lost his cash and his pains 
together, and not only so, but his good temper. 
This exposed him to much obloquy, in part perhaps 
deserved. He was somewhat Jacobinical in his 
views, and hated the Presbyterian clergy, who 
were afraid of him, as " a half papist," and a some- 
what Hcentious writer. Hence he lampooned them 
with great severity, in consequence of which he 
was pretty well lampooned in his turn. 

After all Allan was a true poet, and by no 
means a bad man. He was honest, kind-hearted 
and cheerful. Some of his poetical strains indicate 
much elevation and tenderness of spirit. 

In personal appearance he was somewhat pecu- 
liar. The following amusing description he has 
given of himself: 

^' Imprimis, then, for tallness, I 
Am five foot and four inches high, 
A black a vicedj snod dapper fellow, 
Nor lean, nor overlaid wi' tallow ; 
With phiz of a morocco cut. 
Resembling a late man of wit, 

* Thatch. t Head. t Of a dark complexion. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 161 

Auld gabbet Spec* who was sae cunning, 

To be a dummie ten years running. 

Then for the fabric of my mind, 

^Tis mair to mirth than grief inclined : 

I rather choose to laugh at folly 

Than show dislike by melancholy ; 

Well judging a sour heavy face 
Is not the truest mark of grace. 
I hate a drunkard or a glutton, 
Yet Pm nae faef to wine and mutton : 
Great tables ne'er engaged my wishes 
When crowded with o'er many dishes ; 
A healthfu' stomach, sharply set, 
Prefers a back-say, J piping het, 
I never could imagine *t vicious 
Of a fair fame to be ambitious ; 
Proud to be thought a comic poet, 
And let a judge of numbers know it, 
I court occasion thus to show it.'' 

Allan never suffered his poetry to interfere with 
his business. Indeed he abandoned verse altogeth- 
er in the latter part of his life, rightly judging that 
he might not equal his earlier productions, and feel- 
ing moreover that other and more serious engage- 
ments demanded his attention. The following 
epistle to Mr. Smibert, an eminent painter and inti- 
mate friend, dated Edinburgh, 10th May, 1736, is 
highly characteristic ; 

" My Dear old Friend : — ^ 

Your health and happiness are ever «7ie addi- 
tion to my satisfaction. God make your life ever 
easy and pleasant. Half a century of years have 
now row'd oe'r my brow, that begins now to be 

* Does this mean Spectator ? f Foe. t Sirloin, 

14* 



162 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

lyari ;* yet thanks to my Author, I eat, drink, and 
sleep as sound as I did twenty years syne ;f yes, I 
laugh heartily too, and find as many subjects to 
employ that faculty upon as ever ; fools, fops and 
knaves, grow as rank as formerly, yet here and 
there are to be found good and worthy men, who 
are arte honor to human life. We have small 
hopes of seeing you again in our world ; then let 
us be virtuous and hope to meet in heaven. My 
good auld wife is still my bedfellow ; my son Al- 
lan has been pursuing your science since he was a 
dozen years auld — was with Mr. Hyffidg, at Lon- 
don, for some time, about two years ago — has been 
since at home, painting here like a Raphael — sets 
out for the seat of the beast, beyond the Alps, in 
a month hence — to be away about two years. I'm 
sweerX to part with him, but canna stem the cur- 
rent which flows from the advice of his patrons 
and his own inclination. I have three daughters, 
one of seventeen, one of sixteen, and one of twelve 
years of old, and no rewayled dragle^ among them, 
all fine girls. These six or seven years past I 
have not written a line o( poetry. I e'en gave 
over in good time, before the coolness of fancy, 
that attends advanced years, should make me risk 
the reputation I had acquired. 

Frae twenty-five to five and forty, 
My muse was neither sweer\\ nor dorty^ 
My Pegasus wad break her tether** 
E'en at the sliagging of a feather ; 

* Wrinkled. f Since. J Loth. § Uncouth sloven. 
11 Reluctant. H Proud or stiff. ** Halter. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 163 

And throw* ideas scour like drift ^ 
Streaking his wings up to the lift ; 
Then when my soul was in a lowf 
That gart| my numbers safely row 5J 
But ei1d\\ and judgment gin^ to say, 
Let be your sangs and learn to pray. 

I am, Sir, your friend and servant, 

Allan Ramsay.'' 

In 1743 his circumstances were such as enabled 
him to build a small octagon shaped house on the 
north side of the Calton Hill, which he named 
Ramsay Lodge, but which some of his witty 
friends compared to a goose pie. He told Lord 
Elibank one day of this ungracious comparison. 
" What," said the witty peer, " a goose pie ! In 
good faith, Allan, now that I see you in it, I think 
the house is not ill named." He lived in this odd- 
looking edifice till the day of his death, enjoying 
the society of his friends, and cracking his jokes 
with perhaps greater quietness, but with as much 
gust and hiliarity as ever. He was a man of 
genius, and has exerted great influence on the 
lighter literature of Scotland. He was an im- 
mense favorite with Burns, his equal in genius, his 
superior in depth of feeling, in tenderness and 
beauty of expression. But Burns doubtless owed 
something to the *' wood notes wild," of his illus- 
trious predecessor. Both have done much to illus- 
trate and beautify their native land. 

Next morning at early dawn we are rambling in 

* Through, f Blaze. | Caused. \ Roll. 1| Age. IF Begin. 



164 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

and around the pretty village of Lasswade, which 
lies so sweetly on the left bank of the North Esk. 
The river runs in many charming sinuosities 
through the parish, now passing over a smooth 
ledge of rocks, then " wimpling'' over shining peb- 
bles, then gliding with a scarcely perceptible mo- 
tion " among the green braes," now wetting the 
pendant branches of the birch and broom, anon 
sleeping in a deep pellucid pool, then leaping " o'er 
a linn," and then gushing with a hollow murmur, 
among the loose gray rocks. Nothing can be more 
beautiful and picturesque. Many pretty cottages 
and handsome villas adorn the neighborhood. De 
Quincy, the celebrated EngHsh "opium eater" 
lives here, and Sir Walter Scott at one time occu- 
pied a cottage in the vicinity. The following is a 
happy description from his pen, of the enchanting 
scenes through which the North and South Esk flow. 
It is taken from his ballad of the " Grey Brother." 

Sweet are the patlis — O passing sweet ! 

By Esk's fair streams that run, 
O'er airy steep, through copsewood's deep, 

Impervious to the sun. 

There the rapt poet^s step may rove, 

And yield the muse the day ; 
There beauty led by timid love, 

May shun the tell-tale ray. 

From that fair dome^ where suit is paid, 

By blast of bugle free, 
To Auchindinny's hazel glade, 

And haunted Woodhouselee. 

* Pennycuick House, the romantic and elegant residence of Sir 
George Clerk, Baronet. " It stands on a flat, in a curve of the 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 165 

Who knows not Melville's beechy groove, 

And Roslin's rocky glen, 
Dalkeith, which all the virtues love, 

And classic Hawthornden. 

It is not surprising that multitudes from Edin- 
burgh come to reside here in the summer time ; for 
what with the varied scenery of rock and river, 
copsewood and fell, the pleasant associations of the 
present, and the thrilling memories of " Auld lang 
syne," no region can be more attractive and agree- 
able. 

Sauntering along, we approach Glenesk, so call- 
ed from the deep and charming glen, formed by the 
winding river. Yonder is an old man at work in 
his garden, who looks quite patriarchal, and I dare 
say knows a good deal of the neighborhood. Let 
us accost him. 

" Good morning, sir !" 

" Gude mornin' gentlemen !" 

" You seem to be quite early in your garden this 
morning." 

" Ou aye, we maun mak hay while the sun shines, 
ye ken, and this is a graund time for planting." 

river, with a picturesque glen behind, carrying up the view to the 
ruins of Branstane Castle, and the western extremity of the Pent- 
lands — a little plain in front, gemmed with a beautiful artificial 
pond, and overhung by ascents which are mantled all over with 
wood — and swells and eminences on each side, dissevered by rav- 
ines, and moulded into many curvatures of beauty. On the oppo- 
site side of the river, at the end of an avenue at the top of a bank^ 
stands an obelisk, raised by Sir James Clerk, to the memory of his 
friend and frequent inmate, Allan Ramsay." 



166 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

" You have lived in the neighborhood a consid- 
erable time, I presume." 

" A' my days." 

" Well, it 's a beautiful country." 

" Ou aye, it 's weel eneuch. My faither before 
me lived in that bit housie out yonder amang the 
trees, and he used aften to say, gude auld man ! 
that the lines had fallen to us in pleasant places, and 
that we had a goodly heritage. For my pairt, I 
like the country unco v^eel. The burn there is 
verra pleasant, its sae caller* like, wimpling amang 
the rocks and bushes. And v^hat's mair to the 
pint, it has got a fouthf of fine fish in 't, though thae 
new fangled mills are frightening them awa." 

" Trout, 1 suppose." 

" Yes, sir, and fine anes too. Ah ! mony 's the 
day I hae paidlt in that burn, when a wee bit cal- 
lant, catching the trout amang the stanes, when the 
water was low." 

" Did you know any thing of Sir Walter Scott ? 
He used to live near Lasswade, and I dare say 
often wandered this way to fish." 

" Ken him ! That I did fu' weel. And an hon- 
est freendly man he was. He cam up the burn 
every noo and then, sometimes wi' a fishing-rod, 
and sometimes wi' a staflf in his han. He and I got 
weel acquaint after a time, for he was nane o' your 
upstarts, but an unco frank, freespoken kind of a 
man. Not that he talked sae muckle himsel, but 
he was aye askin about something or ither, and 

* Fresh. f Abundance. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 167 

kept my tongue waggin' a' the time. Ah yes, Sir 
Walter was a canny man. He knew the hail kin- 
tra side, and used to spier a great many questions 
about the ways o' the auld folks. One day he cam 
alang the burn side, wi' anither gentleman. I hap- 
pened to be working down there. His line got 
tangled in a stane, and he got me to fetch it out. 
He then coost it into the deep pule below, making 
the flee skim alang the top o' the water, as skeel- 
fuUy as onything ye ever saw. When up louped a 
muckle spotted trout, and in a moment dragged the 
line to the other side, then spanked up the burn at 
an unco rate, running the line afi* the reel, which 
birred like a spinnin' wheel. Sir Walter hobbled 
after it as weel as he could. He was lame, ye ken, 
but managed to move pretty quick. The trout 
plunged and flounced over the shallow water, got 
into another deep pule, and ran into the bank, in 
the hollow of twa big stanes that were lying there. 
Now, cried Sir Walter, I have you my boy ; so he 
kept jerkin awa at him, and out he cam again, when 
Sir Walter gave him a wallop, and laid him flat 
amang the gowans. 'Twas a bonny sight, I tell 
you. The trout was nae less than a fit and a quar- 
ter lang, as thick as my arm, and spotted all o'er 
wi' shinmg spots, like a leopard. Sir Walter was 
unco pleased — rubbed his bans', and every now and 
then broke into a smile, as he cracked some joke 
about the trout. Hech ! it was a guid sight for 
sair een — to see Sir Walter after the trout, and 
specially to see the trout walloping amang the 
gowans." 



168 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

"But don't you think that it was rather cruel 
sport ?" 

" Cruel ! why man, the fish kens naething ava, 
and out o' its ain element, it gets choked in a min- 
ute* And, for my pairt, I dinna see what fish is 
guid for, if not to be catch'd and eaten, specially 
the big anes ! My gude auld faither used often to 
say to us, * Boys, ye mauna be cruel to the dumb 
beasts, and when ye gang a fishing, be sure to let 
the wee fish gae/ "* 

" Your father was a worthy man, I dare say." 
" That he was, I can assure you. He was re- 
speckit by the hail kintra side. When auld and 
feeble, he wud sit before the door, on a divot seat, 
the hail simmer day, wi' a braid bonnet on his head, 
and a lang staff* by his side, reading the Bible, or 
maybe * Pilgrim's Progress,' or takin' wi' the nee- 
bors wha cam to see him." 

" Did he belong to the established kirk?" 
" Na, na, he was ane o' the auld Covenanters, and 
used to talk a deal about Cameron and McMillen, 
as unco powerfu' preachers. He thocht the present 
times were wonderfu' degenerate, that the solemn 
League and Covenant o' Scotland was amaist for- 
gotten, and that the people now-a-days were a sort 
o' inferior race. But he was a gude man ; unco 
pleasant to look upon, and unco pleasant to hear, 
when he talked o' the faithfulness o' Israel's God, 
and the comfort and blessedness of being his chil- 
dren. When he deed, he seemed to fa' asleep. A 
smile was on his pale face, and his han' lay upon his 
breast, as it were in token of resignation to the will 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 169 

o' heaven. He lies buried in the auld kirk-yard, 
o'er yonder, wi' the words on his head-stane at his ain 
request,* Blessed are the deed that dee in the Lord.' " 

" Are you too a Cameronian ?" 

" Why no, to tell ye the honest truth. The auld 
Cameronians are amaist a' gane ; and I just gang 
o'er here to the free kirk, where, to my notion, we 
hae as guid sound preachin as ye'll meet wi' in the 
hail kintra side. I'm no sae gude a man as my 
faither ; but I canna forget his counsels and his 
prayers." 

" Have you any family, my friend ?" 

" Ou aye. A bit callant, and twa strapping las- 
ses, one of whom is married." 

" Well, that 's a comfort." 

" A great comfort, sir, in my auld days. Jeanie 
is weel married, and has bairns o' her ain. Marion 
wad a been married, but she was kind a skary, and 
so she stays at hame. The bit callant is no my ain, 
but a neebor's son that we adopted frae pity, seeing 
his mither is puir, and his faither was lost at sea." 

" And your wife, is she well ?" 

" Well ! Aye, that she is — in heaven ! She's 
been gane these five years — (here the tears started 
in the old man's eyes.) We maun a' dee. (A brief 
pause.) But, as my gude auld faither used to say, 
* The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, 
blessed be the name of the Lord.' " 

" Yes, my good old friend, the hope of a Chris- 
tian, which you seem to cherish, is a source of in- 
finite comfort. It sweetens the cares of life, and 
robs death of its sting. Good morning." 

15 



170 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

" Gude mornin ; and the Lord bless you !" 
Ascending the river a short distance, we come to 
Hawthornden, once the property and residence of 
the celebrated poet and historian, William Drum- 
mond, the friend of Shakspeare and Ben Jonson. 
The house, originally constructed with reference to 
strength, surmounts the very edge of a precipitous 
cliff, which rises above the river. Winding around 
it are charming walks, among the green foliage, 
which fringes the summit and sides of the rock, 
down to the very edge of the water. Wild tangled 
bushes, flowering shrubs, birches and oak trees, are 
mingled in most picturesque and delightful confu- 
sion ; while the gray cliffs here and there, peep out 
from their sylvan garniture as if sunning themselves 
in the summer radiance. Below, the stream, impe- 
ded in its course by huge ledges of rocks, hurries un- 
seen, but distinctly heard, amid the woods ; further 
on, emerges into the light of day, and forms a broad 
clear pool, on the banks of which you may see 
some industrious fisherman plying his rod. 

" The spot is wild, the banks are steep, 
With eglantine and hawthorn blossomed o'er, 
Lychnis and daffodils, and hare-bells blue. 
From lofty granite crags precipitous, 
The oak with scanty footing topples o'er, 
Tossing his limbs to heaven ; and from the cleft^ 
Fringing the dark brown, natural battlements, 
The hazel throws his silvery branches down : 
' There starting into view, a castled cliff. 

Whose roof is lichen'd o'er, purple and green, 
O'erhangs thy wandering stream^ romantic Esk, 
And rears its head among the ancient trees.'' 

Standing in front of it you see certain artificial 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 171 

caves, hollowed with immense labor, out of the 
solid rock. These communicate with each other, 
and contain a well of prodigious depth bored from 
the court-yard of the mansion. The caves are re- 
ported by tradition to have been a stronghold of 
the ancient Pictish kings, and three of them bear 
respectively the name of * the king's Gallery, the 
king's Bed-chamber and the king's Guard-room.' 
They were doubtless hewn out, as places of refuge, 
during the terrible wars between the English and 
the Picts, or the English and the Scots. In the 
reign of David II, when the English had possession 
of Edinburgh, they and the neighboring caves of 
Gorton afforded shelter to the heroic Sir Alexander 
Ramsay of Dalhousie and his adventurous band. 

Adjoining the house, and overlooking the stream, 
a kind of seat is cut in the face of the rock, called 
' Cypress Grove,' where Drummond is reported to 
have sat, in the fine summer weather, and com- 
posed many of his poems. The magnificent woods 
in the vicinity suggested to Peter Pindar the caus- 
tic remark respecting Dr. Samuel Johnson, that he 

^' Went to Hawthornden's fair scene by night, 
Lest e'er a Scottish tree should wound the sight." 

Crossing the river at a suitable place, we will 
saunter tow^ards Roslin on the other side, and while 
doing so, will beguile the way by talking of Drum- 
mond, whose genius haunts every nook and corner 
of the shady dell. 

William Drummond was born in 1585 and died 
in 1649. His father, John Drummond, was gentle- 



172 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

man usher to King James. He was hence edu- 
cated in profound reverence for royalty and its pre- 
rogatives. Indeed his feelings upon this subject 
were entirely slavish ; and it is said that his strong 
grief at the death of Charles the First hastened his 
death. 

He was well versed in classic literature, and en- 
joyed the advantages of a refined and Hberal edu- 
cation. Having studied civil law for four years in 
France, he succeeded in 1611 to an independent es- 
tate, and took up his residence in Hawthornden. 
Its cliffs, caves, and wooded dells were in harmony 
with his genius, and he spent many happy years 
in this beautiful retreat. His first publication was 
a volume of occasional poems, of various merit, to 
which succeeded a moral treatise, in prose, called 
" Cypress Grove," in allusion probably to the fairy 
nook on the face of the rock where he meditated 
and wrote, and a second poetical work entitled 
" Flowers of Zion." He also wrote the History 
of the Five James's, a production of no great merit, 
in which he urges, to an extravagant length, the 
doctrine of the absolute supremacy of kings. " The 
Cypress Grove" contains reflections upon death, 
written in a solemn and agreeable strain, and con- 
tains some fine passages. " This earth," says he, 
" is as a table book, and men are the notes ; the first 
are washen out, that new may be written in. They 
who forewent us did leave room for us ; and should 
we grieve to do the same tct those who should come 
after us ? Who, being suffered to see the exquisite 
rarities of an antiquary's cabinet, is grieved that 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 173 

the curtain be drawn, and to give place to new 
pilgrims ? And when the Lord of the Universe 
hath shown us the amazing wonders of his various 
frame, should we think it hard, when he thinketh 
time, to dislodge ? This is his unalterable and in- 
evitable decree ; as we had no part of our will in 
our entrance into this life, we should not presume to 
any in our leaving it ; but soberly learn to will that 
which he wills, whose very will giveth being to all 
that it wills." 

The death of a beautiful young lady, to whom 
he was betrothed, affected him deeply ; and he 
sought relief to his wounded feelings in foreign 
travel. On returning, some years afterwards, he 
met a young lady by the name of Logan, bearing 
a strong resemblance to the former object of his 
affections ; on accouut of which he soUcited and 
obtained her hand in marriage. 

Drummond was intimate with Drayton and Ben 
Jonson. The latter paid him a visit at Hawthorn- 
den, and they had much free conversation together. 
Drummond kept private notes of these conversa- 
tions, which subsequently saw the light, and were 
found to be somewhat injurious to Jonson's mem- 
ory. But Drummond himself had no hand in their 
publication. 

As a poet Drummond belonged to the school of 
Spenser, though far inferior to the latter in strength 
of conception and splendor of imagination. His 
poems are distinguished for their singular har- 
mony and sweetness of versification. They seem 
to partake of the character of the quiet romantic 

15* 



174 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

scenery amid which they were composed. His 
" Tears on the Death of Moeliades," (Prince Henry, 
son of James I.,) and his " River Forth Feasting," 
have been much admired. His sonnets, however, 
are his best productions. They flow with as much 
grace and beauty, (though not perhaps with the 
same variety,) as the romantic river which mur- 
murs past his ' wooded seat.' His madrigals, com- 
plimentary verses, and other short pieces, abound 
in foolish conceits, and what is worse, in coarse and 
licentious language. But he was one of the best 
poets of the age, and only inferior to two or three 
of his great contemporaries. 

The following sonnet — " To His Lute" — is very 
sweet. It was probably written after the death of 
the lady to whom he was betrothed ; 

My lute be as thou wert "wlien thou didst grow, 

With thy green mother, in some shady grove, 

When immelcdious winds but made thee move, 

And birds their ramage* did on thee bestow. 

Since that dear voice which did thy sounds approve, 

Which wont in such harmonious strains to flow, 

Is reft from earth to join the spheres above. 

What art thou but a harbinger of woe ? 

Thy pleasing notes be pleasing notes no more, 

But orphan wailings to the fainting ear. 

Each stroke a sigh, each sound draws forth a tear ; 

For which be silent as in woods before ; 

Or if that any hand to touch thee deign, 

Like widowed turtle still her loss complain. 

His sonnet " In Praise of a Solitary Life," was 
written, we can well imagine, in his summer bower 

* Warbling. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 175 

on the banks of the Esk. It is peculiarly harmO' 
nious : 

Thrice happy he who by some shady grove, 

Far from the clamorous world doth live his owiij 

Thou solitary, who is not alone. 

But doth converse with that eternal love. 

O how more sweet is bird's harmonious moan, 

Or the hoarse sobbings of the widowed dove. 

Than those smooth whisperings near a prince' throne, 

Which good make doubtful, do the ill approve ! 

O how more sweet is zephyr's wholesome breath. 

And sighs embalm'd, which new-born flowers unfold, 

Than that applause vain honor doth bequeath. 

How sweet are streams, to poison drank in gold ! 

The world is full of horror, troubles, slights : 

Woods, harmless shades have only true delights. 

The following, *• To a Nightingale," is still more 
beautiful : 

Sweet bird ! that singst away the early hours 

Of winters past or coming, void of care. 

Well pleased with delights which present are. 

Fair seasons, budding sprays, sweet-smelling flowers : 

To rocks, to springs, to rills, from leafy bowers, 

Thou thy Creator's goodness dost declare. 

And what dear gifts on thee he did not spare, 

A stain to human sense in sin that lowers. 

What soul can be so sick as by thy songs 

(Attired in sweetness) sweetly is not driven 

Gtuite to forget earth's turmoils, spites and wrongs. 

And lift a reverend eye and thought to heaven ? 

Sweet, artless songster ! thou my mind dost raise 

To airs of spheres — ^yes, and to angels' lays. 

But we have entered the vale of Roslin, and 
there, in its beauty, stands the Chapel of Roslin, 
one of the most exquisite architectural ruins in 
Scotland. It was founded in 1484, or even earlier 



176 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

than that, by the Earl of Caithness and Orkney. 
The whole Chapel is profusely decorated with the 
most delicate sculpture both within and without. 
The roof, the capitals, key-stones and architraves, 
are all overlaid with sculpture, representing foli- 
age and flowers, grotesque figures, sacred history 
and texts of Scripture. The fine fluted column 
called the " Apprentice's Pillar," so named from a 
tradition which no one believes, and which there- 
fore we do not repeat, is exceedingly beautiful, be- 
ing ornamented with wreaths of foliage and flow- 
ers twining around it in spiral columns. So per- 
fect are these alto relievos, that the author of a 
pamphlet describing them, says that he can liken 
them to nothing but Brussels lace. 

How solemn a thing it is in this chequered light, 
to wander amid these sounding aisles and ancient 
monuments ! In the vaults beneath lie the Barons 
of Roslin, all of whom, till the time of James the 
Seventh, were buried without a coffin, in complete 
armor. This circumstance, and the vulgar belief 
that on the night preceding the death of any of these 
barons, the chapel appeared in flames, has been 
finely described by Walter Scott, in his touching 
ballad of Rosabelle. 

O listen, listen, ladies gay ! 

No haughty feats of arms I tell; 
Soft is the note, and sad the lay, 

That mourns the lovely Rosabelle. 

'• Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew ! 

And gentle ladye deign to stay I 
Rest thee in castle Ravensheuch, 

Nor tempt the stormy Firth to-day. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 177 

" The blackening wave is edged with white, 

To inch and rock the sea-mews fly ; 
The fishers have heard the water sprite, 

Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh. 

^' Last night the gifted seer did view, 
A wet shroud swathed round ladye gay ! 

Then stay thee, fair, in Ravensheuch ; 
Why cross the gloomy Firth to-day V^ 

" 'Tis not because Lord Lindesay's heir, 

To-night at Roslin leads the ball, 
But that my ladye mother there, 

Sits lonely in her castle hall. 

'' 'Tis not because the ring they ride — 

-^nd Lindesay at the ring rides well — 
But that my sire the wine will chide 

If ^tis not filled by Rosabelle.'' 

O'er Roslin all that dreary night, 

A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam, 
'Twas broader than the watchfire's light^ 

And redder than the bright moonbeam. 

It glared on Roslin's castled rock, 

It ruddied all the copsewood glen, 
'Twas seen from Dry den's grove of oak. 

And seen from cavernM Hawthornden. 

Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, 

Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffined lie, 
Each baron, for a sable shroud. 

Sheathed in his iron panoply. 

Seem'd all on fire, within, around. 

Deep sacristy and altar pale ; 
Shone every pillar, foliage bound. 

And glimmer'd all the dead men's mail. 

Blazed battlement and pinnet high, 

Blazed every rose-carved buttress fkir, — 

So still they blaze, when fate is nigh 
The lordly line of high St. Clair. 



178 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND* 

There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold, 
Lie buried within that proud chapelle y 

Each one the holy vault doth hold — 
But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle. 

And each St. Clair was buried there, 
With candle, with book, and with knell , 

But the sea caves rung, and the wild winds sung, 
The dirge of lovely Rosabelle. 

We now pass over a bridge of great height, 
spanning a deep cut in the solid rock, and reach 
Roshn Castle, with its triple tier of vaults, standing 
upon a peninsular rock overhanging the romantic 
glen of the Esk. This castle was, for, ages, the 
seat of the St. Clairs, or Sinclairs, descended from 
William de Sancto Clare, the son of Waldernus de 
Clare, who came to England with William the Con- 
queror, and fought at the battle of Hastings. The 
enumeration of their titles, says Sir Walter Scott, 
would take away the breath of a herald. Among 
others, they were Princes of the Orcades, Dukes of 
Oldenburgh, Lord Admirals of the Scottish Seas, 
Grand Justiciaries of the kingdom. Wardens of the 
border. Earls of Caithness, titularies of more than 
fifty baronies, patrons and Grand Masters of Ma- 
sonry in Scotland, &c. &c. 

Of the grandeur and opulence of the family, some 
conception may be derived from the following de- 
scription, given in a manuscript in the " Advocate's 
Library," of the state maintained by William St. 
Clare, founder of the chapel. — " About that time 
(1440) the town of Roslin, being next to Edinburgh 
and Haddington in East Lothian, became very popu- 
lous by the great concourse of all ranks and degrees 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 179 

of visitors that resorted to this Prince, at his palace 
of the Castle of RosUn ; for he kept a great court, 
and was royally served at his own table, in vessels 
of gold and silver. Lord Dirleton being his master 
of the household. Lord Borthwick his cup-bearer, 
and Lord Fleming his carver, &c. He had his 
halls and other apartments richly adorned with em- 
broidered hangings. He flourished in the reigns 
of James the First and Second. His princess, Eliza- 
beth Douglass, was served by seventy-five gentle- 
women, whereof fifty-three were daughters of no- 
blemen, all clothed in velvets and silks, with their 
chains of gold and other ornaments, and was at- 
tended by two hundred riding gentlemen in all her 
journeys ; and if it happened to be dark when she 
went to Edinburgh, where her lodgings were at the 
foot of Blackfriars' Wynd, eighty lighted torches 
were carried before her." 

The old castle is almost entirely gone, and the 
p? esent structure is a comparatively modern one. 
It belongs to the Earl of Rosslyn, descended from 
a collateral branch of the St. Clair family. 

It is interesting to think of the magnificent old 
barons who kept state in the mouldering castles 
which everywhere adorn the Scottish landscape. 
Some of them were noble specimens of humanity, 
but the greater proportion of them were but splen- 
did barbarians. They led a sort of rude animal 
life, and were distinguished chiefly for their tower- 
ing pride and ungovernable passion. The follow- 
ing story of a hunting match between King Robert 
Bruce and Sir William St. Clair, throws an inter- 



180 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

estiiig light on the spirit of the age and the history 
of the St. Clair family. " The king had been re- 
peatedly baulked by a fleet white deer which he 
had started in his hunt among the Pentland Hills ; 
and having asked an assembled body of his nobles 
whether any dogs in their possession could seize 
the game that had escaped the royal hounds, Sir 
William St. Clair promptly offered to pledge his 
head that two favorite dogs of his called * Help and 
Hold,' would kill the deer before she crossed the 
March burn. The king instantly accepted the 
knight's bold and reckless offer, and promised him- 
self to give the forest of Pentland Moor in guerdon 
of success. A few slow hounds having been let 
loose to beat up the deer, and the king having 
taken post on the best vantage-ground for com- 
manding a view of the chase, Sir William stationed 
himself in the fittest position for slipping his dogs, 
and in the true style of a Romanist, who asks a 
blessing upon a sin, and supposes the giver of the 
blessing to be a creature, earnestly prayed to St. 
Katherine to give the fife of the deer to his dogs. 
Away now came the raised deer, and away in full 
chase went Sir William on a fleet-footed steed ; 
and hind and hunter arrived neck and neck at the 
critical March burn. Sir William threw himself 
in a desperate fling from his horse into the stream ; 
* Hold,' just at this crisis of fate, stopped the deer 
in the brook, and * Help' the next instant came up, 
jdrove back the chase, and killed her on the winning 
«ide af the stream. The king, who had witnessed 
the nieesly poised result, came speedily down from 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 181 

his vantage-ground, embraced Sir William, and 
granted him, in free forestry, the lands of Logan 
House, Kirkton, and Carncraig. Sir WilUam, in 
gratitude for the fancied interference of St. Kathe- 
rine in his favor, built the chapel of St. Katherine 
in the Hope§. The tomb of the w^ildly adventurous 
knight who was so canine in his nature as to reckon 
his life not too high a pledge for the fleetness and 
fierceness of his dogs, is still to be seen in Roslin 
chapel ; and it very properly represents the sculp- 
ture of his armed person to be attended by a grey- 
hound, as a joint claimant of the honor and fame of 
his exploits." 

In the neighboring moor of Roshn is the scene 
of a great battle, in 1302, in which the Scottish 
army gained, in one day, three successive victories, 
a circumstance touchingly referred to by Delta^ 
Dr. Moir of Musselburgh, author of * Casa Wappy,' 
* Wee Willie,' and many other exquisite contribu- 
tions to Blackwood's Magazine. 

" Three triumplis in a day ! 

Three hosts subdued by one ! 
Three armies scattered like the spray, 

Beneath one summer sun 
Who pausing 'mid this solitude 

Of rocky streams and leafy trees, — 
WhOj gazing o'er this quiet wood, 

Would ever dream of these ? 
Or have a thought that ought intrude 

Save birds and humming bees ?'' 

How delightful, as we wander amid these hoary 
ruins and leafy bowers, so still and beautiful under 
the rich light of a summer noon, to think that the 

16 



182 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

old stormy times of feudal warfare have passed 
away forever, and that peace, with balmy wing, is 
brooding over this and other Christian lands. 

But in this everyday life, the wants of nature 
must be met. Let us hie then to the village inn, 
just beyond the chapel. With our keen appetites, 
a snug dinner there will relish better than the most 
splendid banquet of the St. Clairs. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Ramble through the Fields — Parish Schools — Recollections of 
Dominie Meuross — The South Esk — Borthwick and Crich- 
toun Castles — Newbattle Abbey — Dalkeith — Residence of the 
Duke of Buccleugh — ^' Scotland's Skaith/' by Hector Macneil — 
His Character and Writings — Extracts from the " History of 
Will and Jean." 

Recrossing the North Esk, we rambie through 
the country in a north-easterly direction, passing 
through highly cultivated farms, with large com- 
fortable homesteads. The fields everywhere are 
filled with laborers, hoeing, ploughing, and weed- 
ing, most of them cheerful as larks, and making the 
woods ring with 'whistle and song.' That plain 
but substantial edifice, under the shadow of the 
great oak tree hard by the old church, is a parish 
school-house, in which perhaps are gathered some 
fifty or sixty boys and girls, from all ranks of so- 
ciety, plying their mental tasks, under the supervi- 
sion of an intelligent schoolmaster. Every morn- 
ing in that school-house the Word of God is reve- 
rently read, and earnest prayer oflTered, exerting 
upon all minds a healthful moral influence, and 
producing impressions of a religious kind, which 
may last forever. Any boy may be fitted for col- 
lege, or for commercial pursuits, in such a school, 
and the expense to the parent will be next to no- 
thing. What then must be the amount of good 



184 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

accomplished by the combined influence of all the 
parish schools in Scotland, equally endowed, and 
supplied with adequate teachers ? Popular educa- 
tion has made great advances in Scotland within a 
few years. The greatest zeal for learning exists 
among the people, end they require no compulsive 
acts, as in Germany, to induce them to send their 
children to school. Not to be able to read and 
write is regarded, in Scotland, as a great disgrace ; 
and hence the poorest people are equally ready 
with the rich to avail themselves of the benefits of 
instruction. Good teachers are uniformly secured, 
because they receive an ample compensation, and 
none but well-educated and truly moral men would 
be accepted. In this respect their situation is 
greatly superior to that of parish schoolmasters in 
Germany or in the United States. On this subject. 
Kohl, the German traveller, mentions an amusing 
conversation which he had with the parish school- 
master at Muthil. Having stated to the latter that 
the situation of Scottish teachers was far superior 
to that of teachers in his country, he inquired what 
was the average pay of schoolmasters there. 

" It varies a good deal," was the reply of Kohl. 
" Some have a hundred, some a hundred and fifty, 
but many no more than fifty dollars." 

"How many pounds go to a dollar?" asked he. 

" Seven dollars go to a pound." 

"What!" he exclaimed, springing up from his 
chair, " do you mean to tell me that they pay a 
schoolmaster with seven pounds a year ?" 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 185 

" Even so," was the reply, " seven pounds ; but 
how much then do they get with you ?" 

" I know no one who has less than from forty 
to fifty pounds in all Scotland ; but the average is 
seventy or eighty pounds ; and many go as high as 
a hundred and fifty pounds." 

" What !" cried Kohl, springing up in his turn, 
" a hundred and fifty pounds ! that makes one thou- 
sand and fifty dollars. A baron would be satisfied 
in Germany with such a revenue as that ; and do 
you mean to say that there are schoolmasters who 
grumble at it ?" 

" Yes," said he ; '' but recollect how dear things 
are with us. Sugar costs eighteenpence a pound ; 
coflfee two shillings ; chocolate is siill dearer, and 
tea not much cheaper. And then how dear are 
good beef, and pork, and plums, and puddings, and 
everything else !" 

" I could not deny this," adds Kohl ; " but I thought 
that our poor schoolmasters were content if they 
had but bread." 

In former times the parish schoolmasters did not 
receive so much as they now do ; but then they 
were clerks of the parish, frequently precentors in 
the church, and received a multitude of little per- 
quisites. Their support has been made quite am- 
ple, having an average salary of a hundred pounds, 
with a free house. 

But the sight of that school-house brings back 
the days of " lang syne." Well do I remember the 
old parish school — a long thatched building, at the 
" Kirk of Shotts," where I received my preparation 



186 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

for college, under the free and easy, but most effi- 
cient, administration of ' Dominie Meuross,' famed 
through all the country for his great classical at- 
tainments, his facetious disposition, his kind-heart- 
edness, and his love of the pure ' GlenHvet.' Those 
were not the days of temperance societies, and the 
Dominie had so much to do with christenings and 
weddings, parish difficulties, " roups" and law-suits, 
that he was greatly tempted by the bottle. But 
he was a worthy man, and an enthusiastic teacher, 
especially of the classics. Teaching A, B, C, was 
rather a dull business to the Dominie ; but oh, how 
merrily he would construe the Odes of Horace, 
what jokes he would crack over our lessons, and 
what effiilgent light he would cast upon the classic 
page ! Yet Dominie Meuross was a dignified man 
— no one more so. The boys, indeed, enjoyed 
considerable latitude, especially at that end of the 
school opposite the one in which the Dominie sat, 
and many facetious tricks were played upon the 
duller boys, the " sumphs," as we used to call them. 
But the Dominie had only to pull down his glasses 
from his forehead, where they were usually perched, 
and direct a keen glance to " the other end," instantly 
to bring us all to perfect order. Dear old man ! he 
has long ago " gone to the yird," but his memory 
is green as the grass which waves upon his grave. 
The school and the church, the light of learning, 
and the light of religion, form the glory of Scotland, 
These have twined around her rustic brow a wreath 
of fadeless glory. These have given her stability 
and worth, beauty and renown. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 187 

But we have reached Dalhousie Castle, with its 
charming and romantic grounds, situated on a 
branch of the South Esk, a stream similar to the 
North Esk, and running in the same direction. 
These streams, after passing through scenery the 
most picturesque and beautiful, and watering a 
hundred spots consecrated by song and story, as 
if by a mutual attraction, unite a little above Dal- 
keith, and fall near the old town of Musselburgh into 
the Firth of Forth. Behind us, at the distance of a 
few miles, are the celebrated ruins of Borthwick 
and Crichtoun castles, the one on a branch of the 
South Esk, the other somewhat to the right, in the 
vale of Tyne. It was into Borthwick Castle that 
Queen Mary retired after the death of Darnley, and 
her unhappy marriage with Bothwell, and from 
which she was obliged, a few days afterwards, to 
flee to Dunbar in the guise of a page. Crichton 
Castle is beautifully described by Sir Walter Scott, 
in Marmion, and as we cannot visit this interesting 
ruin, take his description of it as the best substitute. 

*' That castle rises on a steep 

Of the green vale of Tyne ; 
And far beneath, where slow they creep 
From pool to eddy, dark and deep. 
Where alders moist, and willows weep, 

You hear her streams repine. 
The towers in different ages rose j 
Their various architecture shows 

The builders' various hands ; 
A mighty mass, that could oppose. 
When deadliest hatred fired its foes, 

The vengeful Douglas' bands. 



188 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

^* Crichtoun ! though now thy miry court 

But pens the lazy steer and sheep, 

Thy turrets rude and tottered Keep, 
Have been the minstrel's loved resort. 
Oft have I traced within thy fort, 

Of mouldering shields the mystic sense, 

Scutcheons of honor or pretence, 
duartered in old armorial sort, 

Remains of rude magnificence. 
Nor wholly yet hath time defaced 

Thy lordly gallery fair ; 
Nor yet the stony cord unbraced. 
Whose twisted knots with roses laced, 

Adorn thy ruined stair. 
Still rises unimpaired below, 
The court-yard's graceful portico : 
Above its cornice, row and row. 
Of fair hewn facets richly show, 

Their pointed diamond form. 
Though there but houseless cattle go, 

To shield them from the storm. 
And shuddering still may we explore. 

Where oft whilom were captives pent, 
The darkness of thy Massy More ;=^ 

Or from thy grass-grown battlement. 
May trace, in undulating line, 
The sluggish mazes of the Tyne.'^ 

Proceeding along the stream, we pass Cockpen, 
reminding us of the Laird of Cockpen and his amus- 
ing courtship, when 

•' Dumb-founder'd was he, 
But nae word did he gae ; 
He mounted his mare. 
And he rade cannilie. 

But aften he thought. 
As he gaed through the glen. 



=^ The prison vault. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 189 

She's a fule to refuse 
The Laird o' Cockpen.^' 

We linger a few minutes by Newbattle Abbey, 
founded by David I., for a community of Cistercian 
monks, brought hither from Melrose, but now the 
residence of the Marquis of Lothian ; and soon after 
reach the old " burgh town" of Dalkeith, most de- 
lightfully situated between the two Esks, and re- 
minding us forcibly of " Mansie Waugh," the paw- 
kie tailor of Dalkeith, whose amusing history we 
read in our boyhood. Dalkeith is a considerable 
place, and has many elegant residences. In its im- 
mediate vicinity is Dalkeith Palace, seat of the Duke 
of Buccleugh, standing on an overhanging bank of 
the North Esk. Here too, in earlier times, Hved 
the Grahams, and the Douglases ; and into this 
strong retreat, then called the " Lion's den," retired 
the celebrated Regent Morton, who was subsequent- 
ly beheaded. We might enter the house, as this 
favor is often granted to strangers, but we will not 
now ; though it boasts the possession of some fine 
old paintings, and some exquisite pieces of furniture. 
But the grounds around it are infinitely more at- 
tractive, adorned, as they are, with magnificent 
trees and shrubbery, and the serpentine windings 
of the two Esks, whose waters unite in the park, a 
little distance below the house. How placidly the 
stream glides through the verdant meadows, and 
mirrors the green foliage of the overhanging trees, 
or the branching horns of some deer, bent to drink 
its clear waters ! How softly and delicately the 
pencil rays of green and yellow light glimmer 



190 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

through those shady retreats to the right. See the 
startled deer bounding through the woods ! How 
softly and lovingly sleeps the sunshine on that wide 
pool at the bottom of the green slope, adorned with 
flowers and honeysuckles ! And see, through that 
shady vista the open sky in the distance, " so dark- 
ly, deeply, beautifully blue." The birds too, mavis, 
lintie, and bulfinch, are caroling among the trees, as 
if their little hearts were filled with boundless joy. 

The cottage of " Jeanie Gairlace," supposed to be 
conferred upon her by the Duchess of Buccleugh, 
is placed by Macneil, the author of " Scotland's 
Skaith," in this beautiful vicinity. As we have yet 
to wait some time for the rail cars that are to take 
us to Edinburgh, let us sit down on this rustic seat, 
and I will give you some account of Macneil, and 
his touching poem of " Will and Jean." 

Hector Macneil was born in 1746, and died in 
1818. He was brought up to mercantile pursuits, 
but did not succeed in business. He cultivated in 
secret his passion for the muses, and published at 
intervals several poetical eflTusions, among which 
were " The Harp, a Legendary Poem," — " The 
Links of the Forth, or a Parting Peep at the Carse 
of Sterling," and " Scotland's Skaith, or the His- 
tory of Will and Jean," his most natural and suc- 
cessful production. Though not successful in lyri- 
cal effusions, or in song writing, he is the author, 
we believe, of that exquisite ballad, " Bonny Wee 
Mary o' Castlecary." He also wrote some prose 
tales, in which he laments the effects of modern 
changes and improvements. In the latter years of 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 191 

his life, he resided in comparative comfort, at Edin- 
burgh, enjoying the congenial society of its refined 
and literary circles. 

" Scotland's Skaith (curse) or the History of Will 
and Jean," is intended to depict the ruinous effects 
of intemperance, and the possibility of reform, with 
the happiness thence resulting. A happy couple, in 
humble life are gradually drawn into the vortex of 
intemperance, and at last are reduced to the deep- 
est extremities. The husband enlists as a soldier, 
and the wife is compelled, with her children, to beg 
her bread. In the commencement of the poem 
Willie is represented as passing a rustic alehouse, 
whose attractions prove too much for him. The 
situation of the alehouse, and the commencement of 
Willie's career as a drunkard, are admirably de- 
scribed. The rhythm of the poem is peculiarly 
harmonious and lively. 

In a howm^ whose bonnie burniej 
Whimpering rowed its crystal flood, 

Near the road where travellers turn aye, 
Neat and bieldf a cot house stood. 

White the wa's, wP roof new theckit.f 

Window broads§ just painted red ; 
Lownll 'mang trees and braes it reekitj1[ 

Hafflins'^* seen and hafflins hid. 

Up the gaveltt end thick spreading, 

Crap the clasping ivy green, 
Back owre firs the high craigs cleadin,||: 

Raised around a cosey screen. 



Hollow, or glen, f Sheltered. J Thatched. § Boards. 
Serene and lonely. IT Smoked. ^^ Half. ft Gable. 



Jt Clothing. 



192 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Down below a flowery meadow ; 

Joined the burnies rambling line, 
Here it was that Howe the widow 

That same day set up her sign. 

Brattling=* down the brae, and near its 

Bottom, Will first marvelling sees 
^ Porter, ale, and British spirits,' 

Painted bright between twa trees. 

' Godsake Tarn ! here's walth for drinking ! 

Wha can this new-comer be V 
' Hout,' quo Tam, ' there's drouth in thinking — 

Let's in Will, and synef we'll see.' 

The two thoughtless friends have " a jolly meet- 
ing," and do not break up till " 'tween twa and three" 
next morning. A weekly club is set up at the ale- 
house, a newspaper is procured, and things move on 
bravely. Willie becomes a " pot-house politician," 
and a hard drinker, the consequence of which is that 
he speedily goes to ruin. His wife also, to drown 
her sorrows, takes to drinking. The contrast be- 
tween their past and present condition is touching- 
ly described by the poet. 

Wha was ance like Willie Gairlace? 

Wha in neeboring town or farm ? 
Beauty's bloom shone in his fair face, 

Deadly strength was in his arm. 

When he first saw Jeanie Miller, 

Wha wi' Jeanie could compare ? 
Thousands had mair braws and siller.^ 

But war ony half so fair ? 

See them now ! how chang'd wi' drinking ! 
A' their youthfu' beauty gane ! 

* Rattling, or running. f Then. 

J Fine clothing and money. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 198 

Davered,* doited,! dazedj and blinking — 
Worn to perfect skin and bane. 

In the cauld month o' November, 

(Claise,§ and cash, and credit out,) 
Cowering o'er a dying ember, 

Wr ilk face as white's a cloutH 

Bond and bill, and debts a' stoppit. 

Ilka sheaf selt^ on the bent ;** 
Cattle, beds, and blankets roupit,tt 

Now to pay the laird his rent. 

No anither night to lodge here — 

No a friend their cause to plead ! 
He's ta'enlJ on to be a sodger, 

She wP weans§^ to beg her bread! 

Fortunately, Jeanie attracts the attention of the 
Duchess of Buccleugh, and obtains from her a pret- 
ty cottage, rent free, and such aid and protection as 
her circumstances demand. Willie loses a leg in 
battle, and returns a changed man, with a pension 
from government. Finding his wife and family, he 
is received to their embrace. The soldier's return, 
and the situation of the cottage are beautifully de- 
picted, * 

Sometimes briskly, sometimes flaggin'. 

Sometimes helpit, Will gat forth ; 
On a cart or in a wagon, 

Hirplinllll aye towards the north. 

Tired ae evening, stepping hooly,^! 

Pondering on his thraward*** fate, 
In the bonny month o' July, 

Willie, heedless, tentftt his gatctiJ 

* Bewildered. t Foolish. I Stupid. 

§ Clothes. II Cloth. l" Sold. 

♦* Stubble field, tf Sold at auction. J| Engaged, §§ Children 
1111 Limping. IfH Carefully. *** Untoward, ftt Lost, ttt Way 

17 



194 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Saft the southland breeze was blowing, 
Sweetly sugbed* the green oak wood ; 

Loud the din o' streams fast fa'ing, 
Strack the ear with thundering thud. 

Ewes and lambs on braes ran bleating ; 

Linties chirped on ilka tree ; 
Frae the west the sun near setting, 

Flamed on Roslin's towers sae hie.f 

Roslin's towers and braes sae bonny ! 

Craigs and water, woods and glen ! 
Roslin's banks unpeered by ony. 

Save the Muses' Hawthornden * 

Ilka sound and charm delighting. 

Will (though hardly fit to gang,)t 
Wandered on through scenes inviting, 

Listening to the mavis' sang. 

Faint at length, the day fast closing, 

On a fragrant strawberry steep, 
Esk's sweet dream to rest composing, 

Wearied nature drapt asleep. 

' Soldier, rise ! — the dews o' e'ening, 

Gathering fa' wi' deadly skaith ! — 
Wounded soldier ! if complaining, 

Sleep ifo here, and catch your death.' 

Accepting an invitation to take shelter in a neigh- 
boring cottage, slowfully and painfully he followed 
his guide. 

Silent stept he on, poor fellow ! 

Listening to his guide before. 
O'er green knowe, and flowery hollow, 

Till they reached the cot-house door. 

Laigh§ it was, yet sweet and humble j 
Decked wi' honeysuckle round ; 

* Sighed. t High. J Walk. § Low. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 195 

Clear below Esk's waters rumble, 
Deep glens murmuring back the sound. 

Melville's towers sae white and stately, 

Dim by gloaming glint* to view ; 
Through Lasswade's dark woods keekj sweetly, 

Skies sae red and lift sae blue. 

Entering now in transport mingle, 

Mother fond, and happy wean,J 
Smiling round a canty§ ingle, 

Bleezing on a clean hearth-stane. 

^ Soldier, welcome ! Come, be cheery ! 

Here ye'seH rest, and tak' your bed — 
Faint, waes me ! ye seem and weary. 

Pale's your cheek, sae lately red !^ 

^ Changed I am,' sighed Willie till^ her ; 

^ Changed nae doubt, as changed** can be j 
Yet, alas ! does Jeanie Miller 

Naught o' Willie Gairlace see V 

Hae ye mark'd the dews o' morning, 

Glittering in the sunny ray, 
duickly fa' when, without warning, 

Rough blasts came and shook the spray ? 

Hae ye seen the bird fast fleeing, 

Drap when pierced by death mair fleet? 

Then see Jean, wi' color deeing,tt 
Senseless drap at Willie's feet. 

After three lang years' affliction, 

A' their waes now^ hush'd to rest, 
Jean ance mair, in fond affection, 

Clasps her Willie to her breast. 

But hark ! the first bell rings for the cars ; so let 
us be off, and get our places. The sun has slipped 

* Gleam. f Peep. | Child. § Merry. 

II You shall. 1 To. ** As much as possible, 

tt Dying. 



196 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

down behind the trees yonder, and it will be gloam- 
ing, if not ' 'tween and supper time,' before we get 
to Edinburgh. 

All is right, and off we go, whirring through the 
quiet and beautiful scenery of these highly cultiva- 
ted regions. We pass through " Samson's ribs," 
that is, the granite rocks of Duddingston, b)^ means 
of a tunnel, glide along the base of Arthur's Seat, 
on whose summit linger the last rays of evening ; 
and land at the upper end of the city, well prepar- 
ed to relish a Scottish supper of substantial edibles, 
and after that, " tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy 
sleep." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

City of Glasgow — Spirit of the place — Trade and Manufactures 
— The Broomielaw — Steam — George's Square — Monuments to 
Sir Walter Scott, Sir John Moore, and James Watt — Sketch 
of the Life of Watt — Glasgow University — Reminiscences — 
Brougham — Sir D. K. Sandford — Professor Nichol and others 
— High Kirk, or Glasgow Cathedral — Martyrdom of Jerome 
Russel and John Kennedy. 

Taking the steam-cars from Edinburgh, we ar- 
rive at Glasgow, a distance of forty-four miles, in 
a couple of hours. As Edinburgh is the represen- 
tative of Scottish literature and refinement, Glas- 
gow is the representative of its commerce and man- 
ufactures. It is an immense city, and contains a 
prodigious number of inhabitants. At the period of 
the Union it had a population of only twelve thou- 
sand : since which time it has doubled this number 
twelve or thirteen times, and now contains nearly 
three hundred thousand inhabitants. It owes this 
unprecedented increase to its trade, domestic and 
foreign, which is almost unparalleled in its ex- 
tent. There is probably not a single inland town 
in Great Britain, with the exception of London, 
which can show such a shipping list. 

Glasgow has ever been distinguished for its me- 
chanical ingenuity, its industry and enterprise. Its 
situation doubtless is highly favorable, but without 

17* 



198 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

an intelligent, ingenious and active population, it 
could never have reached such a height of pros- 
perity. 

But it is not our intention to visit this commercial 
city as tourists. There are enough such to describe 
her agreeable situation, and handsome public edifices, 
her long and elegant streets, her beautiful " green," 
and magnificent river. At present v^e shall not fa- 
tigue ourselves with visiting the Royal Exchange, the 
Royal Bank, the Tontine and the Assembly Rooms. 
Neither shall we trouble our readers to go with us 
through Queen street, St. Vincent street, Greenhill 
Place, or Woodside Crescent. 

It might be worth while however, to look into 
some of those immense factories ; from which rise 
innumerable huge chimnies, some of which overtop 
the steeples and towers of the churches, and reach 
far up into the heavens.* Thousands and thousands 
of spindles and power looms, with thousands and 
thousands of human hands and heads are moving 
there from morn to night, and from night to morn. 
What masses of complicated and beautiful machin- 
ery ! What prodigious steam-engines, great hearts 
of power in the centres of little worlds, giving life 
energy and motion to the whole. Here is a single 
warehouse, as it is called, for the sale of manufac- 
tured goods, containing no less than two hundred 
clerks. What piles of silks and shawls, cottons and 
calicoes ! The productions of Glasgow reach every 
part of the world. You will find them in India, 
China, and the United States, in the wilds of Africa 

* One of these chimnies is said to be over 400 feet high. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 199 

and the jungles of Burmah, amid the snows of La- 
brador, and the savannahs of Georgia. 

But let us go down to the Broomielaw, and take 
a look at the river Clyde. That mile of masts, and 
those immense steamers, plying up and down the 
river, connect Glasgow with every part of the 
British Empire and the world. 

What grand agency has accomplished all this ? 
Steam ! — steam, under the guidance and control of 
genius and enterprise. The extended prosperity of 
Glasgow commenced with the inventions of Watt, 
the greatest mechanical genius of the age, and the first 
man that constructed a steam-engine of much practi- 
cal use. Steam has raised all those huge factories 
which we have been admiring, and keeps their innu- 
merable wheels and pistons, spindles and power looms 
in motion. Steam it is which brings untold masses of 
coal and iron from the bowels of the earth, and con- 
verts them into machinery and motive power. 
Yonder it comes, rolling and dashing, in a long 
train of cars and carriages filled with the produce 
and population of the land. Here it gives life and 
energy to a cotton mill with a thousand looms ! 
There it casts off, from day to day, the myriads of 
printed sheets which spread intelligence through 
the country. All around us it moves the cranks 
and puUies, ropes and wires, wheels and tools, 
which work such wonders in beating and grinding, 
cutting and carving, polishing and dyeing. Steam 
has added thousands, nay millions to the annual in- 
come of Glasgow. It has augmented the resources 
of Great Britain to such an extent that it saves 



200 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

seventy millions of dollars annually in the matter 
of motive power alone ! No pen can describe the 
additions which it has made in other parts of the 
world to their manufactures and commerce: It has 
brought all nations into more intimate relations, and 
is yet destined, in many respects, to revolutionize 
the world. 

Let us go then to George's Square, near the cen- 
tre of the city, and look at Chantrey's monument of 
the man who has done so much to bring about such 
a change. The Square contains also a fine monu- 
ment of Sir Walter Scott, in the form of a fluted 
Doric column, about eighty feet high, surmounted 
by a colossal statue of " the great magician of the 
north." He is represented standing in an easy at- 
titude, with a shepherd's plaid thrown half around 
his body. The likeness is said to be remarkably 
good. It has that expression of shrewdness, hon- 
esty and good nature for which he was distinguish- 
ed, but none of that ideal elevation which graces 
the countenances of Schiller, Goethe and Shak- 
speare. Immediately in front of this monument, is 
a beautiful pedestrian statue in bronze, by Flaxman, 
of Sir John Moore, the subject of Wolfe's exquis- 
ite lyric, — 

" Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, 
As his corpse to the ramparts we hurried, 
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot, 
O'er the grave where our hero we buried.'^ 

Sir John Moore was a citizen of Glasgow, and 
his townsmen have erected this statue as expressive 
of their veneration for his memory. To the right 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 201 

of this monument, in the southwest angle of the 
square, you see in bronze, and of colossal magni- 
tude, the noble figure of James Watt. He is re- 
presented in a sitting posture on a circular pedestal 
of Aberdeen granite. It is considered one of the 
happiest productions of the distinguished Chantrey. 
The fine meditative features of the great inventor 
are strikingly developed. Watt was born in Green- 
ock, on the 19th of January, 1736, but conducted 
his experiments chiefly in Glasgow. He came 
thither in 1757, first as a mathematical instrument 
maker to the college, and subsequently as an engi- 
neer. In early life he gave indications of his pecu- 
liar genius, by various little mechanical contrivan- 
ces. At the age of six years, he was occasionally 
found stretched on the floor, delineating with chalk 
the lines of a geometrical problem. At other times 
he greatly obliged his young companions by making 
and repairing their toys ; and before he had reach- 
ed his seventeenth year he had amused them with 
the wonders of an electrical machine of his own 
construction. He had also instructed himself by 
making experiments on the steam of a tea-kettle. 
He subsequently stored his mind with the wonders 
of physics, chemistry and medicine. 

In the University of Glasgow, Watt was employ- 
ed to fit up the instruments of the Macfarlane Ob- 
servatory, which gave him an opportunity of be- 
coming acquainted with Adam Smith, Joseph Black, 
and Robert Simson, names immortal in the scien- 
tific annals of Scotland. Here also he formed an 
intimacy with John Robinson, then a student at col 



202 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

lege, and subsequently the celebrated Dr. Robin- 
son, who first called the attention of Watt to the 
subject of steam engines, and threw out the idea of 
applying them to steam carriages and other pur- 
poses. 

The steam-engine had existed before this time, 
but it was extremely imperfect, and, moreover, of 
no great practical use. Hence Mr. Watt was 
not, properly speaking, the inventor but the im- 
prover of the steam-engine. Still his improvement 
was equal to an invention of the highest order. It 
made the instrument available for the highest prac- 
tical purposes. " He found the crazy machines of 
Savery and Newcomen laboring and creaking at 
our mine heads, and occupying the same rank as 
prime movers with the wind-mill and the water- 
wheel ; and by a succession of inventions and dis- 
coveries, deduced from the most profound chemical 
knowledge, and applied by the most exquisite me- 
chanical skill, he brought the steam-engine to such 
a degree of perfection as to stamp it the most pre- 
cious gift which man ever bequeathed to his race."* 

Watt had " a sore fight of existence," at least in 
the early part of his career, and he came near 
being deprived of the emolument which w^as his 
just due as a benefactor of his race. But he even- 
tually triumphed over all opposition, retired from 
business, and continued to reside during the rest of 
his life on his estate at Heathfield Soho. He was 
exceedingly happy in his domestic relations, though 

^ Edinburgh Review. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 203 

called, in 1804, to suffer a painful bereavement in 
the loss of his youngest son Gregory, who had 
given high promise of literary and scientific emi- 
nence. In 1808 he was elected a corresponding 
member of the Institute of France; and in 1814, 
he was nominated by the Academy of Sciences as 
one of its eight foreign correspondents. In 1819 
his health suffered a rapid decline, and he himself 
felt that this was his last illness. " Resigned, him- 
self, he endeavored to make others resigned. He 
pointed out to his son the topics of consolation 
which should occupy his mind ; and expressing his 
sincere gratitude to Providence for the length of 
days he had enjoyed, for his exemption from most 
of the infirmities of age, and for the serenity and 
cheerfulness which marked the close of his life ; he 
expired at Heathfield on the 25th of August, 1819." 
He was interred in the parish church of Hands- 
worth ; and over his tomb his son erected an ele- 
gant Gothic chapel, containing a beautiful marble 
bust by Chantrey. Another bust by the same ar- 
tist has been placed in one of the halls of Glasgow 
College. A colossal statue of Carrara marble, pro- 
cured at great expense by public subscription, 
graces the recesses of Westminster Abbey. 

The most useful memorial of Watt, however, 
exists in Greenock, in the form of a large and hand- 
some building for a public library, erected by his 
son, in which the citizens have caused to be placed 
a handsome marble statue, with an inscription from 
the pen of Lord Jeffrey. Lord Brougham con- 
cluded an eloquent speech on the merits of Mr. 



204 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Watt, in the following striking terms : — " If in old 
times the temples of false gods were appropriately 
filled with the images of men who had carried de- 
vastation over the face of the earth, sm-ely our 
temples cannot be more worthily adorned with the 
likenesses of those w^hose triumphs have been splen- 
did indeed, but unattended by sorrow to any — who 
have achieved victories, not for one country only, 
but to enlarge the power and increase the happi- 
ness of the whole human race." 

Passing up High Street, we come to an arched 
gateway, and find ourselves in a quadrangular 
court, with antique looking buildings on each side. 
Beyond this we come to another quadrangle, also 
surrounded by buildings of perhaps more recent 
date. Passing straight on we reach a handsome 
edifice of pohshed freestone, directly in front of 
us, and standing alone, which is nothing less than 
the Hunterian museum. These then are the build- 
ings of Glasgow^ University. Beyond us is the 
college-green, ornamented with trees, and divided 
into two parts by a sluggish stream which passes 
through the centre. A number of the students, 
having laid aside their scarlet gowns, are playing 
at football, a violent but delightful and invigorating 
exercise. 

The University of Glasgow was founded in 1450, 
in the time of James the Second. Bishop TurnbuU 
was then in possession of the see, and his successors 
were appointed chancellors. The history of the 
institution has been various ; but, generally speak- 
ing, it has enjoyed a high degree of prosperity. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 205 

Of late years the number of students has decHned, 
from what cause we know not. The number, in 
all the departments, does not exceed a thousand, 
whereas, in 1824, when the writer was a student in 
Glasgow, there were from fourteen to fifteen hun- 
dred. Well does he remember the enthusiasm 
with which they welcomed their popular candidate 
for rector, Henry Brougham, Esq., M. P., as he 
was then termed, and the eager interest with which 
they listened to his inaugural discourse. Sir James 
Mcintosh, a fine hearty looking man, with bland 
expressive eyes, and two of the sons of Robert 
Burns, tall, good looking young men, but with no 
particular resemblance to their illustrious father, 
were present, with others, to grace the occasion. 
Brougham was in the maturity of his strength, and 
the heyday of his fame. Tall, muscular, and wiry, 
with searching visage, dark complexion, keen pierc- 
ing eyes, ample forehead, and long outstretched fin- 
ger, he stood up the very personification of strength 
and eloquence. But Brougham has been frequently 
described, and we therefore pass him by. The 
next rector that was chosen was Thomas Camp- 
bell, the poet, once a member of the college, and 
one of its most distinguished ornaments. A large 
portion, if not the whole of the " Pleasures of Hope'* 
was written while he was a student at college. 

Many distinguished men have been professors in 
this institution. Among these Dr. Reid and Dr. 
Hutcheson, Dr. Simpson and Dr. Moore, Adam 
Smith, and Professor Sandford stand pre-eminent. 
Well does the writer remember the accomplished, 

18 



206 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

but unfortunate Sandford, and the profound enthu- 
siasm for the Greek classics which he inspired in his 
students. He was a son of the venerable Bishop 
Sandford, a distinguished graduate of Oxford, and a 
man of the highest attainments in Greek and Enghsh 
literature. Of small stature, he yet possessed an ele- 
gant and commanding form. His pale face, finely 
chiselled mouth, dark eyes, and marble forehead are 
before me now. I hear his clear, musical voice, roll- 
ing out, ore rotitndo, the resounding periods of Ho- 
mer, or the energetic lines of Eschylus. No man 
ever recited Greek with such enthusiasm and ener- 
gy. It was a perfect treat to hear him read the odes 
of Anacreon or the choral hymns of Eschylus ; to 
say nothing of his elegant translations, or his fine 
critical remarks. He was created a baronet bv the 
government, and bade fair to be one of the most 
distinguished and influential literary men in the 
country. But he was seduced into party politics, 
was sent as the representative of Glasgow to par- 
liament, and failed — failed utterly and forever ; for 
his want of success in the House of Commons 
preyed upon his spirits, and caused his death. 

Among the distinguished men now occupying 
places in this university we find Mr. Lushington, 
of Trinity College, Cambridge, professor of Greek, 
and Dr. Nichol, author of the popular Lectures on 
the Wonders of the Heavens, professor of practical 
astronomy. Mr. Mylne, professor of moral philo- 
syphy, and Mr. Buchanan, professor of logic, are 
acute and learned men. 

Leaving the college, we ascend High Street, and 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 207 

after reaching the top of the hill, a Httle to the 
right, we see before us the " High Kirk," or rather 
the old cathedral of Glasgow, one of the finest re- 
mains of antiquity, surrounded by a vast church- 
yard, containing many rich and ancient monumen- 
tal tombs, and the mouldering bones of many 
by-gone generations. It has a superb crypt, 
" equalled by none in the kingdom," — once used as 
a place of worship, but now as a place for burying 
the dead. The author of Waverley has invested it 
with additional interest by making it the scene of a 
striking incident in Rob Roy. The whole edifice 
has a most commanding appearance. 

At the north-east end of the cathedral the spot is 
yet to be seen where papal bigotry and superstition 
lighted the fires of religious persecution. There 
in the year 1538, Jerome Russel, a member of the 
convent of Franciscan friars, in Glasgow, a man of 
considerable talents, and John Kennedy, a young 
man from Ayr, of high family, only about eighteen 
years of age, were burned for having embraced the 
doctrines of the infant Reformation. They sustain- 
ed the terrible ordeal through which they passed to 
glory with a becoming dignity and fortitude. " This 
is your hour and power of darkness," said Russel, 
"now you sit as judges, and we are wrongfully 
condemned, but the day cometh which will clear 
our innocency, and you shall see your own blind- 
ness to your everlasting confusion — go on and fulfil 
the measure of your iniquity." Is it surprising that 
the reaction of reform which followed such pro- 
ceedings should occasionally have gone to unjusti- 



208 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

fiable lengths, and that the people should have 
torn down " the rookeries," which sheltered those 
birds of prey, as the papal tyrants of that day 
might well be termed? Never were a nobler 
or more heroic set of men than the martyrs and 
confessors of that trying time ! Knox, Melville, 
and Wishart might be stern, but they were men of 
godlike .temper and heroic zeal, of whom the world 
was not worthy ; and whatever poetasters and 
novelists, sentimental journalists, and infidel histo- 
rians may say of them, they will be found at last, 
occupying an honored place, at God's right hand. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Necropolis — Jewish Burial Place — Monument to John Knox 
— Monuments of William Macgavin and Dr. Dick — Reminis- 
cences — Character and Writings of Dr. Dick — Pollok and ' the 
Course of Time'— Grave of Motherwell— Sketch of his Life— 
His Genius and Poetry — ' Jeanie Morrison.' — ' My Held is like 
to rend J Willie—^ A Summer Sabbath Noon.' 

East of the Cathedral, a few steps, lies the Ne- 
cropolis, on the brow of a hill which overlooks the 
city and the surrounding regions. We pass over 
the " Bridge of Sighs," so named from its leading 
to the Cemetery, and consisting of a handsome arch, 
spannmg the " Molendinar Burn," a brawling rivu- 
let, whose waters, collected into a small basin, dash 
over an artificial cascade into the ravine below. 
The Necropolis covers the rocky eminence for- 
merly crowned with dark firs, and supposed, in 
ancient times to have been a retreat of the Druids, 
who here performed their fearful rites. But how 
sweet and peaceful now, ornamented with fine 
trees and shrubbery, shady walks, and beautiful 
monuments, a serene retreat for the peaceful dead. 
In point of situation and appearance, the Necropo- 
lis is superior to " Pere la Chaise," though certainly 
inferior to " Greenwood " and " Mount Auburn," in 
our opinion the most attractive burying-places in 
the world. Still, each of these has a beauty of its 
own, well fitted to soften and subdue those feelings 

18* 



210 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

of grief and horror naturally excited by death and 
the grave. Such sweet and attractive places of 
burial are in harmony with the genius of the Gos- 
pel. The ancient Greeks, from their very horror 
of death and their ignorance of futurity, endeav- 
ored to invest the tomb with festal associations. 
Why, then, should not we, upon whom the light of 
immortality has descended, lay those we love in 
scenes of quiet beauty, where " the wicked cease 
from troubling, and the weary are at rest ?" Does 
not Holy Writ declare, *^ Blessed are the dead that 
die in the Lord ?" It is therefore meet to place 
their bodies only in scenes which remind us of 
rest, of hope, and of Heaven. 

" The Dead cannot grieve. 
Not a sob nor a sigh meets mine ear, 

Which compassion itself could relieve. 
Ah, sweetly they slumber, nor love, hope, or fear ; 
Peace ! peace is the watchword, the only one here." 

Let affection, then, bury her dead and build her 
tombs amid the trees and the flowers, which preach 
to us of the resurrection-morn and the paradise of 
God. 

" The first tabernacle to Hope we will build, 
And look for the sleepers around us to rise ! 

The second to Faith which insures it fulfilled ; 
And the third to the Lamb of the great sacrifice, 
Who bequeathed us them both when he rose from the skies !'' 

This cemetery was founded in 1831, and the first 
sale was to the Jews, who require a burying-place 
for themselves. It lies in the north-west corner 
of the grounds. The enclosure contains the requi- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 211 

site accommodations for washing the bodies before 
interment as required by the Jewish law, which 
also forbids one body to be deposited above another. 
The place is ornamented with excellent taste. On 
the left is a beautiful pillar, in imitation of Absalom's 
pillar in the " King's dale." On the front of this 
column, and immediately under its capital, is a 
piece of fret- work, formed of Hebrew letters, re- 
presenting the w^ords, " Who among the gods is 
like unto Jehovah?" On the shaft of the column 
are those touching stanzas from Byron's Hebrew 
Melodies, concluding thus : 

^' Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast. 
When shall je flee away and be at rest ; 
The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his pave, 
Mankind his country — Israel but the grave." 

On the lower part of the column is the following : 

'' Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and 
let thy widows trust in me.'^ 

On the other side of the gateway are engraved 
the following verses : 

" A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping : 
Rachel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her 
children, because they were not.'^ 

" Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and 
thine eyes from tears, for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the 
Lord, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.'' 

" And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy chil- 
dren shall come again to their own border." 

And on the opposite pillar is the following : 
" How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Sion with acloud 



212 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

in his anger, and cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty ' 
of Israel, and removed not his footstool in the day of his anger.'' 

" But though he caused grief, yet will he have compassion ac- 
cording to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not aflftict t 
willingly, nor grieve the children of men.'' 

On the summit of the hill, and towering above i 
the rest, is the commanding monument of John 
Knox, intended to be commemorative of the Refor- 
mation. On a lofty square pedestal, stands the 
statue of the stern old Reformer, with the Bible in 
one hand, and the other stretched out, as if in the 
act of addressing the multitude. On one side of 
the pedestal is the following inscription : 

To testify gratitude for inestimable services 

In the cause of Religion, Education, and Civil Liberty, 

To awaken admiration 

Of that Integrity, Disinterestedness and Courage, 

Which stood unshaken in the midst of trials, 

And in the maintenance of the highest olyects — 

Finally, 

To cherish unceasing reverence for the principles and blessings 

of that Great Reformation, by the influence of which our 

country, though in the midst of difficulties, has 

risen to honor, prosperity, and happiness. 

This Monument is erected by Voluntary Subscription, 

To the Memory of 

JOHN KNOX, 

The chief instrument, under God, of the Reformation 

in Scotland, 

On the 22d day of Sept. 1825. 

He died rejoicing in the faith of the Gospel, at Edinburgh, on the 

24th of Nov. 1532, in the 69th year of his age. 

On the other sides are the following: 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 213 

" The Refbrmation produced a revolution in the sentiments of 
mankind, the greatest as well as most beneficial that has happen- 
ed since the publication of Christianity.'^ 

^'In 1547, and in the city where his friend George Wishart had 
suffered, John Knox, surrounded with dangers, first preached the 
doctrines of the Refbrmation. In 1559, on the 24th of August, the 
parliament of Scotland adopted the confession of faith, presented 
by the reformed ministers, and declared popery no longer to be 
the religion of this kingdom. 

'' John Knox beaame then a minister of Edinburgh, where he 
continued to his death, the incorruptible guardian of our best in- 
terests. 

" ' I can take God to witness,' he declared, ' that I never preach- 
ed in contempt of any man, and wise men will consider that a true 
friend cannot flatter ; especially in a case that involves the salva- 
tion of the bodies and the souls, not of a few persons, but of the 
whole realm.' When laid in the grave, the Regent said : ' There 
lieth he who never feared the face of man, who was often threaten- 
ed with pistol and dagger, yet hath ended his days in peace and 
honor.' 

" Patrick Hamilton, a youth of high rank and disUnguished at- 
tainments, was the first martyr in Scotland in the cause of the Re- 
formation. He was condemned to the flames in St. Andrews, in 
1528, and the 24th year of his age. 

"From 1530 to 1540, persecution raged in every quarter, many 
suffered the most cruel deaths, and many fled to England and the 
continent. Among these early martyrs were Jerome Russel and 
Alexander Kennedy, two young men of great piety and talent, who 
suffered at Glasgow. William Wishart returned to Scotland, 
from which he had been banished, and preached the Gospel in va- 
rious quarters. In 1546, this heavenly-minded man, the friend and 
instructor of Knox, was committed to the flames at St. Andrews." 

Let the thoughtful ponder these interesting me- 
morials, and say whether the Reformation in Scot- 
land was not a glorious event ! 

At a little distance from Knox's monument, is 
one to the memory of Mr. Macgavin, a banker in 
Glasgow, and author of " the Protestant ;" and 



214 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

i 

another of great elegance and beauty, to the mem- 
ory of Dr. Dick, late professor of theology in the 
United Secession Church. " Say not that the good 
ever die,'* and " he sleeps a sacred sleep," are en- 
graven, in Greek, upon the sides of the monument, 
beautiful and appropriate sentiments for the tomb 
of a Christian. Dr. Dick vs^as pre-eminently a good 
man, and not only so but a man of the highest at- 
tainments. Well does the writer remember his 
dignified bearing, fine countenance, and silver hair. 
But a few years ago, he sat at the feet of this ven- 
erable man, as his instructor in theology, and re- 
ceived from his lips lessons of holy wisdom. While 
professor of theology, the reverend doctor was 
also pastor of one of the largest and most influential 
of the Secession churches in the city of Glasgow. 
He was greatly venerated, both by the people of 
his charge and by his theological pupils, for his 
dignity and purity of character, his clear, well bal- 
anced intellect, his calm and consistent piety. He 
wrote lucidly and elegantly on the " Inspiration of 
the Scriptures," a work which a distinguished En- 
glish bishop so much admired that he carried it 
about with him in his pocket. His " Lectures on 
the Acts of the Apostles," though inferior to the 
production just named, is also a valuable work. 
Since his death, his " Theological Prelections" have 
been published, and are much esteemed for their 
clear statement, and defence of evangelical truth. 
Always lucid, always logical and satisfactory, he is 
never profound or original. His style glides in 
pellucid beauty, like a rivulet through the meadow, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 215 

mirroring in its calm depths the green foliage 
which adorns its banks, and the blue heavens bend- 
ing above it, but never cutting itself a new channel, 
or sweeping onward, with majestic force, like a 
torrent to the sea. The labors of Dr. Dick were 
pre-eminently useful ; and a host of young men, 
educated under his influence, now fill posts of the 
highest responsibility in Scotland, and in other parts 
of the world. PoUok was a student of the Doctor's 
at the same time with the writer, but was not 
known to be possessed of any extraordinary genius 
till after the publication of " The Course of Time." 
He was considered a man of talent, however, and 
had written two or three sermons, containing pas- 
sages of considerable power. But his heart was 
in his great poem during the whole of his student 
life. So intensely did he work upon it, that he had 
often to be assisted to bed, from sheer exhaustion. 
"The Course of Time" has many obvious faults, 
but abounds in strokes of genius and power. A 
great soul has poured itself into this rugged and 
sometimes gloomy channel, which, traversing the 
whole course of time, finally loses itself in the 
ocean of eternity. Pollok was tall, well propor- 
tioned, of a dark complexion, " sicklied o'er with 
the pale cast of thought," with deep-set eyes, heavy 
eyebrows and black bushy hair. A smothered 
light burned in his dark orbs, which flashed, with a 
meteor brilliancy, whenever he spoke with enthu- 
siasm and energy. He was born in 1798, at North 
Muirhouse, in the parish of Eaglesham, Renfrew- 
shire, — 



216 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

" 'Mong hills and streams 
And melancholy deserts, where the sun 
Saw as he pass'd, a shepherd only here 
And there, watching his little flock ; or heard 
The ploughman talking to his steers." 

His father was an honest farmer, and his early 
home a scene of much domestic endearment. To 
the trees which overshadowed the paternal mansion 
he thus pays homage in his verse : 

^'Much of my native scenery appears, 
And presses forward, to be in my song ; 
But must not now ; for much behind awaits, 
Of higher note. Four trees I pass not by, 
Which o'er our house their evening shadow threw j — 
Three ash, and one of elm. Tall trees they were, 
And old ; and had been old a century 
Before my day. None living could say aught 
About their youth ; but they were goodly trees ; 
And oft I wondered, as I sat and thought 
Beneath their summer shade, or in the night 
Of winter heard the spirits of the wind 
Growling among their boughs — how they had grown 
So high, in such a rough, tempestuous place : 
And when a hapless branch, torn by the blast 
Fell down, I mourned as if a friend had fallen." 

Pollok had just finished his studies, and was 
licensed as a preacher, by the United Secession 
Church, when he published his poem which thrilled 
all hearts in Scotland, and struck his fellow-students 
with perfect amazement, not unmingled, however, 
with delight. But he was then sick. His over- 
wrought frame began to yield, and he sought 
health in a foreign country, which he did not live 
to reach. He died in England in the autumn 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 217 

of 1827, the same year in which he had pubHshed 
his poem, having lived just long enough to com- 
plete it, and receive the applause of his coun- 
trymen. 

Before leaving the Necropolis, we must visit a 
grave at one corner of the grounds, in a quiet, 
shady spot, as if retired somewhat from the rest. 
There it is, the grave of William Motherwell, one 
of the sweetest of the Scottish poets, the author of 
" Bonnie Jeanie Morrison" and " My Heid is like 
to rend, Willie," and many other poems of exquisite 
grace and pathos. 

William Motherwell was born in the city of 
Glasgow in the year 1797, and died there in 1835. 
In his eleventh year he was transferred to the care 
of his uncle in Paisley, who brought him up. Here 
he received a liberal education, and commenced 
the study of law. At the age of twenty-one he 
was appointed Deputy to the Sheriff-Clerk of Pais- 
ley, a highly respectable but not lucrative situation. 
He early evinced a love of poetry, and in 1819 
became editor of a miscellany, called " The Harp 
of Renfrewshire," w^hich he conducted with much 
taste and judgment. A relish for antiquarian re- 
search led him to investigate the subject of the 
ballad poetry of Scotland, the results of which he 
published in 1827, in two volumes, entitled " Min- 
strelsy, Ancient and Modern." His introduction to 
this collection is admirably written, and must form 
the basis of all future investigations upon this sub- 
ject. He seems to have been unusually successful 
in recovering many of the old ballads, which were 

19 



218 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

never committed to writing, and known to very 
few persons. Some of these, though rude and gro- 
tesque in thought or style, are exquisitely beautiful. 
Allan Cunningham, another of Scotland's sweetest 
poets, had labored in this field, but not with the 
same success. But the genius of both of these 
poets was deeply imbued with the spirit of the old 
ballad rhymes. They had conned them in their 
minds so frequently that they naturally wrote their 
own effusions in the same simple and touching 
style. Soon after the publication of his " Ancient 
Minstrelsy," Motherwell became editor of a weekly 
journal in Paisley, and established a magazine 
there, to which he contributed some of his finest 
poems. The talent and spirit which he evinced in 
these literary labors, were the occasion of his being 
removed to the city of Glasgow, to the editorial 
care of the Glasgow Courier, in which situation he 
continued till his death. He conducted this paper 
with great ability. 

Motherwell was of small stature, but thick set 
and muscular. His head w^as large and finely 
formed ; his eyes were bright and penetrating. In 
mixed society he was rather reserved, " but ap- 
peared internally to enjoy the feast of reason and 
the flow of soul." Somewhat pensive in his mood, 
he lived much in the solitude of his own thoughts, 
and at times gave way to a profound melancholy. 
This spirit pervades his poetry. The wailings of a 
wounded heart mingle with his fine descriptions of 
nature, and his lofty aspirations after the beautiful 
and true. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 219 

In 1832 he collected and published his poems in 
one volume. He was also associated with the 
Ettrick Shepherd in editing the works of Burns, 
and at the time of his death was collecting mate- 
rials for the life of Tannahill, an humble weaver in 
Paisley, but one of the finest song- writers Scotland 
has ever produced. " Accompanied by a literary 
friend, on the first of November, 1835, he had been 
dining in the country, about a couple of miles from 
Glasgow, and on his return home, feeling indisposed, 
he went to bed. In a few hours thereafter he 
awakened, and complained of a pain in the head, 
which increased so much as to render him speech- 
less. Medical assistance was speedily obtained ; 
but alas ! it was of no avail — the blow was struck, 
and the curtain had finally fallen over the hfe and 
fortunes of William Motherwell. One universal 
feeling of regret and sympathy seemed to extend 
over society, when the sudden and premature de- 
cease of this accomplished poet and elegant writer 
became known. His funeral was attended by a 
large body of the citizens, by the most eminent and 
learned of the literary professions, and by persons 
of all shades of political opinions. He was interred 
in the Necropolis of Glasgow, not far from the 
resting-place of his fast friend, Mr. William Hen- 
derson." 

Though Motherwell's death was thus sudden and 
unexpected, he seems to have had something like a 
premonition of it. The following touching lines 
were given to a friend, a day or two before his 
decease : 



220 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

When I beneath the cold red earth am sleeping, 

Life's fever o'er, 
Will there for me be any bright eye weeping, 

That I'm no more ? 
Will there be any heart still memory keeping, 

Of heretofore? 

When the great winds through leafless forests rushing, 

Sad music make ? 
When the swollen streams, o'er crag and gully gushing. 

Like full hearts break, 
Will there then one whose heart despair is crushing. 

Mourn for my sake ? 

When the bright sun upon that spot is shining, 

With purest ray, 
And the small flowers their buds and blossoms twining, 

Burst through that clay, 
Will there be one still on that spot repining. 

Lost hopes all day ? 

When no star twinkles with its eye of glory. 

On that low mound. 
And wintry storms have with their ruins hoary. 

Its loneness crowned ; 
Will there be then one versed in misery's story, 

Pacing it round ? 

It may be so, — but this is selfish sorrow, 

To ask such meed — 
A weakness and a wickedness to borrow 

From hearts that bleed. 
The wailings of to-day for what to-morrow 

Shall never need. 

Lay me then gently in my narrow dwelling. 

Thou gentle heart : 
And though thy bosom should with grief be swelling. 

Let no tear start ; 
It were in vain — for Time hath long been knelling — 

Sad one, depart ! 

These are mournful, but somewhat hopeful 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 221 

strains ; for one who feels that " time has long been 
knelling, sad one, depart !" must, if not a sceptic, 
have looked beyond the grave, and descried in 
better worlds, rest and solace for the aching heart. 
Here, in his "narrow dwelling," he gently sleeps, 
while pilgrims from afar drop tears of sympathy 
upon its *• grassy mound." 

Motherwell was a man of pure genius. His 
poems are distinguished for their deep tenderness 
and exquisite melody. They are gemmed, more- 
over, w^th beautiful conceptions, with original and 
striking expressions. There is nothing, in the 
whole range of Scottish poetry, except Burns's 
" Highland Mary," equal in beauty and pathos to 

'•JEANIE Morrison;^ 

I've wandered east Fve wandered west, 

Through mony a weary way ; 
But never, never can forget. 

The luve o' lifers young day ! 
The fire that's blawn on Beltane* e'en, 

May weel be black 'ginf Yule.j: 
But blacker fa' awaits the heart 

When first fond luve grows cule. 
O dear, dear Jeanie Morrison, 

The thocts of bygane years. 
Still fling their shadows o'er my path, 

And blind my een wi' tears : 
They blind my een wi' saut,§ saut tears, 

And sair and sick I pine, 
As memory idly summons up 

The blithe blinksH o' lang syne. 
'Twas then we luvit ilk^ ither weel, 

'Twas then we twa did part ; 

* Holy-rood day. t Until. t Christmas. ^ Salt. 

11 Gleams, or flashes. ^ Each other. 

19* 



222 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Sweet time — sad time ! twa bairns at school, 
Twa bairns and but ae* heart ! 

'Twas then we sat on ae laighf bink, 
To lier| ilk ither lear ; 

And tonesj and looks, and smiles were shed. 
Remembered evermair. 

I wonder, Jeanie, affcen yet, 

When sitting on that bink, 
Cheek touchin' cheek, loof§ locked in loof, 

What our wee heads could think. 
When baith bent down o'er ae braid page 

WP ae bulk on our knee, 
Thy lips were on thy lesson, but 

My lesson was in thee. 

O mindll ye how we hung our heads, 

How cheeks brent red wi' shame, 
Whene'er the schule^f weans laughin^ said, 

We cleeked** thegither hame? 
And mind ye o' the Saturdays, 

(The schule then skail'ttt at noon,) 
When we ran aff to speelH the braes, 

The broomy braes o' June ? 

My held runs round and round about, 

My heart flows like a sea, 
As ane by ane the thocts rush back, 

O' schule time and o' thee. * 

O mornin' life ! O mornin' luve ! 

O lichtsome days and lang. 
When hinnied§§ hop^s around our hearts, 

Like simmer blossoms sprang ! 

O mind ye, luve, how aft we left 
The deavin'llll dinsomelFlf toun, 

To wander by the green burnside, 
And hear its waters croon ?*^^ 



^ One. t Low bench. J To teach. § Hand. || Remember. 
1 School children. ** Clasped, ft Dismissed, tt Climb. 
§§ Honied. |||| Deafening. lH Noisy. ^^^ Murmur. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 223 

The simmer leaves Lung ower our heads. 

The flowers burst round our feet, 
And in the gloamin' o* the wood. 

The throssil* whusslit sweet. 

The throssil whusslit in the wood, 

The burn sang to the trees, 
And we wi' Nature's heart in tune, 

Concerted harmonies ; 
And on the knowef abune the burn. 

For hours thegither sat : 
In the silentness o' joy, till baith 

Wr very, very gladness grat.J 

Ay, ay, dear Jeanie Morrison, 

Tears trinkled down your cheek, 
Like dew-beads on a rose, yet nane 

Had ony power to speak ! 
That was a time, a blessed time, 

When hearts were fresh and young, 
When freely gushed all feelings forth, 

Unsyllabled, — unsung ! 

I marvel, Jeanie Morrison, 

Gin§ I hae been to thee, 
As closely twined wi' earliest thocts, 

As ye hae been to me ? 
O I tell me gin their music fills 

Thine ear as it does mine ; 
O ! say gin e'er your heart grows]] grit 

Wi' dreamings o' lang syne ? 

Fve wandered east, I've wandered west, 

I've borne a weary lot ; 
But in my wanderings far or near. 

Ye never were forgot. 
The fount that first burst frae this heart, 

Still travels on its way ; 



'^ Thrush or mavis. f Knoll. t Wept. 

§ If. II Swells. 



224 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

And channels deeper as it runs, 
The luve o' life's young day. 

O dear, dear Jeanie Morrison, 

Since we were sindered young, 
Fve never seen your face, nor heard 

The music o' your tongue ; 
But I could hug all wretchedness, 

And happy could I die, 
Did I but ken your heart still dreamed, 

O' bygane days and me ! 

Equally beautiful and still more pathetic, is ^' My 
Held is like to rend, Willie^ Indeed, we know 
of nothing so affecting as the last stanzas of this 
exquisite ballad. The poor heart-broken girl gives 
abundant evidence of her profound penitence. 

! dinna mind my words, Willie, 
I downa seek to blame, — 

But O ! it^s hard to live, Willie, 

And dree a world's shame I 
Het tears are hailin' ower your cheek, 

And hailin' ower your chin ; 
Why weep ye sae for worthlessness^ 

For sorrow and for sin. 

Fm weary o' this warld, Willie, 
And sick wi' a' I see, — 

1 canna live as I hae lived, 

Or be as I should be. 
But fauld unto your heart, Willie, 

The heart that still is thine, — 
Aud kiss ance mair the white, white cheek, 

Ye said was red lang syne. 

A stoun^ gaes through my heid, Willie, 

A sair stoun through my heart, — 
O ! hand me up, and let me kiss 

Thy brow, ere we twa pairt. 

^ A darting pain. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 225 

Anither^ and anither yet I — 

How fast my life's strings break ! — 
Farewell ! farewell ! through yon kirk-yard, 

Step lichtly for my sake ! 

The lav'rock^«in the lift.t Willie, 

That liltsi far ower our heid, 
Will sing the morn as merrilie 

Abune the clay-cauld deid ; 
And this green turf we're sittin' on, 

Wi' dew-draps shimmerin^ sheen, 
Will hap§ the heart that luvit thee. 

As warld has seldom seen. 

But O ! remember me, Willie, 

On land where'er ye be, — 
And O ! think on the leal, leal heart. 

That ne'er luvit ane but thee ! 
And O ! think on the cauld, cauld mools,ll 

That fileU my yellow hair, — 
That kiss the cheek, that kiss the chin. 

Ye never sail kiss mair. 

As a specimen of MotherwelFs descriptive pow- 
ers, the exquisite grace of Iiis diction, and the deep- 
toned melody of his verse, and not only so, but of 
his high devotional feelings, v^e give the following : 

A SABBATH SUMMER NOON. 

The calmness of this noontide hour, 

The shadow of this wood, 
The fragrance of each wilding flower 

Are marvelously good ; 
O ! here crazed spirits breathe the balm, 

Of nature's solitude ! 

It is a most delicious calm 

That resteth everywhere, — 
The holiness of soul-sung psalm, 

Of felt, but voiceless prayer ! 

* Lark. j Sky. | Sings. § Cover. 1| Clods. T[ Soil. 



226 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

With hearts too full to speak their bliss, 
God's creatures silent are. 

They silent are ; but not the less 

In this most tranquil hour, 
Of deep, unbroken dreaminess, 

They own that Love and Power, 
Which like the softest sunshine rests, 

On every leaf and flower. 

How silent are the song-filled nests 
That crowd this drowsy tree, — 

How mute is every feathered breast 
That swelled with melody ! 

And yet bright bead-like eyes declare, 
This hour is exstacy. 

Heart forth ! as uncaged bird through air, 

And mingle in the tide 
Of blessed things, that, lacking care, 

How full of beauty glide, 
Around thee, in their angel hues 

Of joy and sinless pride. 

Here on this green bank that o'er-views 

The far retreating glen. 
Beneath the spreading beech-tree muse. 

On all within thy ken ; 
For lovelier scene shall never break, 

On thy dimmed sight again. 

Slow stealing from the tangled brake. 

That skirts the distant hill. 
With noiseless hoof two bright fawns make 

For yonder lapsing rill ; 
Meek children of the forest gloom. 

Drink on, and fear no ill ! 

And buried in the yellow broom. 
That crowns the neighboring height, 

Couches a loutish shepherd groom. 
With all his flocks in sight ; 

Which dot the green braes gloriously. 
With spots 0* living light. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 227 

It is a sight that filleth me 

With meditative joy, 
To mark these dumb things curiously, 

Crowd round the guardian boy j 
As if they felt this Sabbath hour 

Of bliss lacked all alloy. 

I bend me towards the tiny flower. 

That underneath this tree, 
Opens its little breast of sweets 

In meekest modesty, 
And breathes the eloquence of love, 

In muteness, Lord I to thee. 

***** 

The silentness of night doth brood 

O^er this bright summer noon ; 
And nature, in her holiest mood, 

Doth all things well attune, 
To joy in the religious dreams 

Of green and leafy June. 

Far down the glen in distance gleams, 

The hamlet's tapering spire. 
And glittering in meridial beams 

Its vane is tongued with fire ; 
And hark, how sweet its silvery bell. — 

And hark, the rustic choir ! 

The holy sounds float up the dell 

To fill my ravished ear, 
And now the glorious anthems swell,— 

Of worshippers sincere, — 
Of hearts bowed in the dust, that shed 

Faith's penitential tear. 

Dear Lord ! thy shadow is forth spread, 

On all mine eye can see 5 
And filled at the pure fountain-head 

Of deepest piety, 
My heart loves all created things, 

And travels home to thee 



228 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Around me while the sunshine flings, 

A flood of mocky gold, 
My chastened spirit once more sings, 

As it was wont of old, 
That lay of gratitude which burst 

From young heart uncontrolled. 

When in the midst of nature nursed, 

Sweet influences fell, 
On childly hearts that were athirst^ 

Like soft dews in the bell 
Of tender flowers, that bowed their heads, 

And breathed a fresher smell. 

So, even now this hour hath sped, 

In rapturous thought o'er me, 
Feeling myself with nature wed, — 

A holy mystery, — 
A part of earth, a part of heaven, 

A part, great God ! of Thee. 

Fast fade the cares of life's dull even. 

They perish as the weed, 
While unto me the power is given. 

A moral deep to read, 
In every silent throe of mind. 

Eternal beauties breed. 

It would be pleasant, but we have not time, to 
make the acquamtance of some of the Glasgow 
clergy, particularly of the classic Wardlaw, the 
vigorous Heugh,* the accomplished King, the 

* Since the above was written, the Rev. Dr. Heughhas gone to 
his reward in heaven. He was a man of fine talents, deep piety, and 
most engaging manners. We met him some years ago on the 
banks of Lake Leman, whither he had gone for his health, in com- 
pany with Merle D'Aubigne, Joseph J. Gurney and others ; on 
which occasion Dr. Heugh gave an interesting and graphic ac- 
count of the Free C^hurch movement, which was translated for the 
benefit of those who did not understand English, by Professor La 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 229 

energetic Robson, the intelligent Buchanan, the 
eloquent Willis, the strong " in knee'd" Anderson, 
and others of equal distinction. A fair specimen 

Harpe. Never shall we forget tliat interview. There were pre- 
sentj French and English, German and Swiss, Scots and Ameri- 
cans. Some of these were Presbyterians, others Episcopalians, 
and others Baptists, Lutherans and Gluakers ; but all were " one 
in Christ Jesus.*' Joseph J. Gurney closed our interview with a 
prayer in the French language, the most simple, solemn, and touch- 
ing we ever heard. Ah ! little did we think that one of the most 
agreeable of that happy company was so soon to pass away from 
the scenes of earth. The following sketch of Dr. Heugh as a 
preacher, is from a funeral sermon by Dr. J ohn Brown, of Edin- 
burgh. 

'• As a preacher, he was judicious, faithful, discriminating ; not 
exclusively doctrinal or practical, or experimental, but all by 
turns, and often all in the same discourse. The matter of his dis- 
courses was drawn from the living oracles, and his constant aim 
was to explain and to apply the saving doctrines of the cross — to 
bring the mind and hearts of men into harmony with the mind and 
will of God, especially as those are revealed in the person and 
work of his incarnate Son. He was eminently a scriptural preach- 
er, both in substance and in form. The commands of the Master^ 
' Divide rightly the word of truth,' - Feed my sheep,' • Feed my 
lambs,' seemed to be ever present to his mind, and to guide all his 
ministerial studies ; and hence it was that his pulpit services were 
marked by a lucid, pointed, and affectionate inculcation of those 
varied truths which the circumstances of his hearers required. 
There was nothing trivial or extraneous in his discussions. He 
stated massy important thoughts, wide and comprehensive views — 
the result of much reflection and experience — illustrative of his 
subject and suited to the occasion — in simple and appropriate 
words ; and the hearer was made to feel that he was not listening 
to human speculations, but that Christ was, by the preacher, un- 
folding his mind and will — ' making manifest the savor of his 
knowledge.' 

" His manner in the pulpit was singularly easy, graceful and 
pleasing. All that he said and did was natural and becoming. 

20 



230 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

of the Scottish clergy has been given in the min- 
isters of Edinburgh, and that must suffice for the 
present. 

His fine open countenancCj his animated appearance, his fluency 
of utterance, the pleasantly modulated tones of his voice, his grace- 
ful action, and the solemn devotional feeling which obviously per- 
vaded all these, rivetted attention, and threw a peculiar charm 
over his whole discourse. There was no seeking for effect, no 
going out of the way for ornaments, no efforts to dazzle and to over- 
whelm. He was occupied with his subject, and sought to fill the 
minds of his hearers with it, as his own mind was filled with it. 
There were occasionally passages of great beauty, touchingly ten- 
der statements, stirring suddenly the deeper emotions of the heart ; 
but the ordinary character of his eloquence was instructive and 
pleasing, rather than affecting or overpowering.^^ 



CHAPTER XV. 

Dumbarton Castle — Lochlomond — Luss — Ascent of Benlomond — 
Magnificent Views — Ride to Loch-Katrine — Rob Roy Mac- 
gregor — ' Gathering of Clan Gregor' — Loch-Katrine and the 
Trossacks — The city of Perth — Martyrdom of Helen Stark and 
her husband. 

Embarking in a steamer at Glasgow, we glide 
down the Clyde as far as Dumbarton Castle, which 
rises, in stern and soKtary majesty, from the bosom 
of the river, — 

^- A castled steep, 
Whose banner hangeth o'er the time-worn tower 
So idly, that rapt fancy deemeth it 
A metaphor of peace." 

In ancient times, however, those old battlements 
frequently stood the shock of invading war. Dum- 
barton was the " Alcluith" of the ancient Britons, 
subsequently " Dumbriton," or " the fortified hill of 
the Britons." The vale of the Clyde was called 
" Strathclutha," and here was the capital of the king- 
dom of the " Strathclyde Britons." " Alcluith" is 
the " Balclutha" of Ossian ; halla signifying a wall 
or bulwark, ,from the Latin vallum^ a waM. " I 
have seen the walls of Balclutha," sings Ossian, in 
the poem of Carron, "but they were desolate. 
The fire had resounded in the halls ; and the voice 
of the people is heard no more. The stream of the 
Clutha (Clyde) was removed from its place by the 



232 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

fall of the walls. The thistle shook here its lonely 
head; the moss whistled to the wind. The fox 
looked out from the windows ; the rank grass of 
the walls waved round its head. Desolate is the 
dwelling of Morna; silence is in the house of her 
fathers." In the reign of Queen Mary this strong- 
hold was taken by an escalade. This was accom- 
plished by Captain Crawford, an officer of great 
energy and talent, who acted for the confederated 
lords who opposed Queen Mary after the death 
of her husband, Henry Darnley. Provided with 
scaling-ladders, and whatever else was necessary, 
Crawford set out from Glasgow with a small but 
determined body of men. The night was dark and 
misty, when they reached the castle- walls. Craw- 
ford, and a soldier who acted as a guide, scrambled 
up to a ledge of rock, w^here they fastened a ladder 
to a tree, which grew on one of its cliffs. Ascend- 
ing by this means, the whole party stood together 
with their chief on this natural parapet. But they 
were far from the point w^hich they hoped to 
reach. Again the ladder was planted, and the 
ascent begun. But all at once one of the foremost 
soldiers, when half way up the ladder, was seized 
with a sudden fit, and clung to the ladder stiff and 
motionless. All further progress was at an end. 
What to do they knew not. To cut him down 
would be cruel, and besides might awaken the 
garrison. In this emergency, Crawford had the 
man secured, by means of ropes to the ladder, 
which was turned over and all passed up in safety 
to the foot of the wall. Day began to break, and 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 233 

they hastened to scale the wall. The first man 
who reached the parapet was seen by a sentinel, 
who was quickly knocked in the head. The whole 
party, with furious shouts, rushed over the wall, and 
took possession of the magazine, seized the can- 
non, and before the besieged could help them- 
selves, had entire control of the Castle. 

But we cannot linger here ; so, bidding adieu to 
Dumbarton, with its martial associations, we strike 
off from the river at right angles, and, after a plea- 
sant ride of four or five miles, through a peaceful 
and agreeable country, we reach the south end of 
Lochlomond, the " Queen of the Scottish lakes," 
where we find a little steamer in waiting, which 
takes us, and a company of sportsmen, travellers 
and others, over the placid waves of this magnifi- 
cent sheet of water. The lake is some thirty miles 
in length, and of unequal breadth, being sometimes 
four or five miles, and then again not more than a 
single mile in width, gorgeously begemmed with 
verdant and beautifully wooded islands, of larger 
and smaller size, to the number of thirty, and 
shaded here and there by mountains, covered with 
verdure and trees to their summits, or grim cliflfs, 
towering, in solitary grandeur, above the dark and 
heaving waters beneath. How finely our little 
steamer dashes the water from her prow, as if she 
really enjoyed the trip, among the beautiful scenery 
of this charming lake ! What variety of light and 
shade ! What diversity of scene, as isle after isle, 
bold headland, lofty cliff", or wooded acclivity, 
meets the gaze ! How earth and air and sky, yon 

20* 



234 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

fleecy clouds that skirt the horizon, wild crags, and 
verdant slopes, clumps of trees on the water's edge, 
islands of green mirroring their foliage in the bosom 
of the lake, mingle and intermingle in ever varying 
forms of beauty and grandeur ! Yonder, too, is 
Benlomond, the genius of the place, towering above 
the lesser mountains, and looking down, as if pro- 
tectingly, upon the lake he loves. The shores are 
exceedingly beautiful ; on one side lying low, " un- 
dulating with fields and groves, where many a 
pleasant dwelling is embowered, into lines of hills 
that gradually soften away into another land. On 
the other side, sloping back, or overhanging, mounts 
beautiful in their bareness, for they are green as 
emerald ; others, scarcely more beautiful, studded 
with fair trees, some altogether woods. They soon 
form into mountains, and the mountains become 
more and more majestical, yet beauty never deserts 
them, and her spirit continues to tame that of the 
frowning cliffs." " The islands," continues Profes- 
sor Wilson, from whom we make this fine extract, 
" are forever arranging themselves into new forms, 
every one more and more beautiful ; at least so 
they seem to be, perpetually occurring, yet always 
unexpected ; and there is a pleasure even in such a 
series of slight surprises that enhances the delight 
of admiration." 

The southern part of the lake is the most beauti- 
ful, but the northern the most sublime. The chan- 
nel narrows, and the mountains rise higher and 
higher, casting dark shadows into the water. For 
a moment it seems gloomy, but high up in the 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 235 

mountains you discover spots of green ; and the 
sunlight glancing down, between the masses of 
shadow, lights up the waves of the lake with a 
strange beauty, as if it were something purer and 
more spirit-like than the beauty of the ordinary 
world. 

But we will stop at the village of Luss, near the 
edge of the lake, surrounded by mountain scenery, 
in some places rough and bleak, but charmingly 
diversified by deep wooded glens, and romantic 
ravines. 

The sun is sinking behind the western hills — the 
evening shadows are resting in the vallies, while 
the tops of those craggy heights around us are still 
burning with the last rays of departing day. We 
wander towards the southern part of the parish, 
with feelings subdued by the magnificent scenery 
which everywhere meets our gaze, and the solemn 
stillness which reigns among the mountains, broken 
only by the tinkling of a small stream winding its 
way to the lake, as if seeking a home in its bosom, 
like the soul of a true Christian, which is ever tend- 
ing onward to the infinite and immortal. At length, 
while the sweet and long continued " gloaming" of 
the Scottish summer envelopes everything in its 
soft and dubious light, we reach the remains of a 
large cairn, a mound of stones and earth, called 
" Carn-na-Cheasoig," the cairn of St. Kessog. Here 
then, according to tradition, lies the dust of St. 
Kessog, who is said to have suflfered martyrdom 
near the site of this cairn, in the sixth century, and 
who anciently was venerated as the guardian saint 



236 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

of Luss. Was St. Kessog a true martyr? We 
trust he was, and can easily imagine the cruel but 
triumphant death of the holy man. At such an 
hour, and in such a scene, with the shadow of these 
great, sky-pointing mountains, resting on our spirits, 
we might almost believe anything ; anything, at 
least, lofty and heart-stirring. It is not surprising 
that the Highlanders are superstitious : but it is 
surprising that they are not more religious. An 
infidel or a fanatic among the hills seems an im- 
possibility. Nor are the inhabitants of these high 
regions inclined either to scepticism or fanatacism. 
But they are ignorant of Christianity in its purer 
forms ; and hence are easily subjected to supersti- 
tious fears. But we are not yet among the High- 
landers ; for Luss and the regions around are natu- 
rally subjected to Lowland influences. 

Next morning w^e pass over the lake in a small 
boat to Rowardennan, on the eastern shore, whence 
we commence the ascent of Benlomond, which 
rises to a height of something more than three 
thousand feet. The distance from Rowardennan 
to the top is generally reckoned about six miles. 
Wending along the sides of the mountain we gra- 
dually ascend to the bare and craggy summit, but 
not without resting here and there, and stopping to 
gaze upon the expanding landscape, as it spreads 
further and further towards the distant seas. We 
are somewhat fatigued, but how refreshing the 
mountain breeze, and how exhilarating the magnifi- 
cent scenery which opens on every side, and ab- 
solutely reaches from sea to sea ! There, beneath 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 237 

US, like a belt of liquid light, stretches the long and 
beautiful Lochlomond, sparkling under the rays 
pf the sun, fringed with hills, rocks, and woods, 
and adorned with green isles, reposing on its heav- 
ing bosom, like gems of emerald chased in gold. 
Far off are the islands of Bute and Arran, and 
nearer the fertile Strath-Clutha, through w^hich 
flows the river Clyde, adorned with villages, 
castles and country-seats, the city of Glasgow, 
covered with a misty vapor, the whole of Lanark- 
shire, the city of Edinburgh, and the vast and de- 
lightful tract of country beyond, the Firth of Forth, 
Stirling Castle, and the links of the Forth gliding in 
peaceful beauty through its green and wooded 
vale. To the north a scene presents itself of wild 
and varied grandeur, long ranges of Alpine heights, 
mighty crags towering to the sky, dark lakes, and 
deep-cloven ravines, wild and desolate moors, 
straggling forests, and rich secluded vales. Near 
us rises the hoary Benvoirloich ; and further north, 
among inferior mountains, Bencruachan and Ben- 
nevis lift their lofty heads. Taking a wider range 
we get a distant glimpse of the wide Atlantic, and 
the coast of green Erin, the mountains of Cumber- 
nauld, and the German Ocean, washing the north- 
fyas\ern coasts of Scotland. But the eye rests, as 
if by enchantment, upon the magnificent mountain 
scenery to the north, inferior only in grandeur and 
beauty to the mountains of Switzerland. 

^^ Crags, knolls and mounds, confusedly hurled, 
The fragments of an earlier world j 



238 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

And mountains that like giants stand. 
To sentinel enchanted land.'' 

How elevating such a position, and such scenery. 
How the soul dilates and rejoices, as if it were a 
part of the mighty spectacle. Ah ! this were a 
place for angels to light upon, and hymn the 
praise of that infinite Being " whose are the moun- 
tains, and the vallies, and the resplendent rivers." 

But it is time to descend, though it would be 
pleasant, doubtless, to linger here till sunset, and 
see those mountain heights shining like stars in the 
departing radiance, while all beneath was covered 
with shadow ; and if the evening were still, to Hs- 
ten to the mingled murmur which ever ascends 
through the calm air, from a region of streams and 
torrents. 

Coasting along the lake we reach Inversnaid 
mill at its upper extremity, and securing some 
Highland ponies, little tough shaggy fellows, sure- 
footed and self-willed, we ramble through a lonely, 
rock-bound glen, the scene of the feats of Rob Roy 
Macgregor. In one of the smoky huts of this glen 
we are shown a long Spanish musket, six feet and 
a half in length, said to have belonged to the fa- 
mous outlaw, whose original residence was in this 
lonely region. We also pass the hut in which 
Helen Macgregor, his wife, was born and brought 
up. By forgetting a few years, one can easily 
imagine the whole region filled with wild ' kilted' 
Highlanders, shouting the war-cry of Macdonald, 
Glengarry, or Macgregor. The spirit of these 
wild clans has been admirably depicted by Sir 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 239 

Walter Scott. Nothing can be more spirited than 
his " Gathering of Clan-Gregor," which in this 
rough glen, seems to gather a peculiar intensity of 
meaning. 

The moon's on the lake, the mist's on the brae. 
And the clan has a name that is nameless by day ; 
Then gather, gather, gather, Gregalich ! 

Our signal for fight that from monarchs wc drew. 
Must be heard but by night in our vengeful haloo ; 
Then haloo, Gregalich, haloo Gregalich ! 

Glen Orchy's proud mountains, Coalcbuirn and her towers, 
Glenstrae and Glenlyon no longer are ours ; 
We're landless, landless, Gregalich ! 

But doomed and devoted by vassal and lord, 
Macgregor has still both his heart and his sword ; 

Then courage, courage, courage, Gregalich ! 

If they rob us of name, and pursue us with beagles, 
Give their roofs to the flame, and their flesh to the eagles ; 
Then vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, Gregalich ! 

While there's leaves in the forest, or foam on the river, 
Macgregor despite them, shall flourish forever ! 

Come then, Gregalich ! Come then, Gregalich ! 

Through the depths of Lochkatrine the steed shall career, 
O'er the peak of Benlomond the galley shall steer. 
And the rocks of Craig-Royston, like icicles melt. 
Ere our wrongs be forgot, or our vengeance unfelt ! 
Then gather, gather, gather, Gregalich !" 

We reach Lochkatrine, a narrow sheet of water, 
ten miles in length, winding, in serpentine turns, 
among the huge mountains which guard it on every 
side. This, and the wild glen called the Trosachs, 
are embalmed in the poetry of Sir Walter Scott, 
whose ethereal genius has imparted to them a 



240 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

charm which they would not otherwise possess. 
Wild and grand the scenery certainly is, secluded 
so far among the mountains, and guarded so won- 
drously by 

^' Rocky summitSj split and rent/' 

which, gleaming under the rays of the morning sun, 
appeared to the eye of poetical inspiration, 

" Like turret, dome or battlement, 
Or seemed fantastically set 
With cupola or minaret, 
Wild crests as pagod ever deck'd, 
Or mosque of Eastern minaret.'' 

And not only so, but richly adorned with forest- 
trees and wild flowers among the rifted rocks and 
the " smiling glades between," lovelier by far than 
ever met any but a poet's eye. 

'• Boon nature scattered free and wild, 
Each plant or flower, the mountains' child. 
Here eglantine embalmed the air, 
Hawthorne and hazel mingled there; 
The primrose, pale and violet flower. 
Found in each cliff a narrow bower ; 
Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, 
Emblems of punishment and pride. 
Group'd their dark hues with every stain 
The weather-beaten crags retain. 
With boughs that quaked at every breath 
Gray birch and aspen wept beneath ; 
Aloft the ash and warrior oak. 
Cast anchor in the rifted rock; 
And higher yet the pine tree hung 
His shattered trunk, and frequent flung 
When seemed the cliffs to mount on high, 
His boughs athwart the narrow'd sky. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 241 

Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, 
Where glistening streamers waved and danced, 
The wanderer's eye could barely view 
The summer heaven's delicious blue ; 
So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
The scenery of a fairy dream." 

The scenery at the east end of Lochkatrine, 
where the lake narrows, like a placid river, under 
the eye of Benvenue, the lower parts of which are 
richly wooded, is exceedingly beautiful. Through 
the whole of this glen, the Highland guides point 
out the localities and incidents mentioned in the 
" Lady of the Lake," as if it were a historical 
verity. Such is the power of genius, which "gives 
to airy nothings a local habitation and a name." 

*^ Oh ! who would think, in cheerless solitude, 

Who o'er these twilight waters glided slow. 

That genius, with a time-surviving glow. 
These wild lone scenes so i^roudly hath imbued ! 
Or that from ^ hum of men' so far remote, 

Where blue waves gleam, and mountains darken round, 

And trees, with broad boughs shed a gloom profound, 
A poet here should from his trackless thought 
Elysian prospects conjure up, and sing 

Of bright achievement in the olden days, 

When chieftain valor sued for beauty's praise. 
And magic virtues charmed St. Fillan's spring : 

Until in worlds where Chilian mountains raise 
Th«ir cloud-capt heads admiring souls should wing 

Hither their flight, to wilds whereon I gaze." 

Leaving Lochkatrine, we pass in a south-east- 
erly direction, through Callendar to Auchterar- 
der, a parish famous in the annals of the Free 
Church of Scotland, and thence, travelling through 
a delightful country, reach " the bonnie town o' 

21 



242 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Perth," which lies so charmingly on the banks of 
the Tay. Surrounded by some of the finest scenery 
in Scotland, with Kinnoul House and Kinfauns 
Castle on the one side, and Scone, the old palace in 
which the kings of Scotland were crowned, on the 
other, clustering with memories of the olden time, 
and withal being a well-built city, with some ven- 
erable churches and handsome public edifices, 
Perth is one of the most interesting places in Scot- 
land. Moreover, it was anciently the capital of 
the kingdom, and contains a good many relics of 
its former glory. Here the doctrines of the Re- 
formation early took root, and some of the citizens 
suffered martyrdom for Christ's sake. Helen Stark 
and her husband, for refusing to pray to the Virgin 
Mary, were condemned to die. She desired to be 
executed with her husband, but her request was 
refused. On the way to the scaffold, she exhorted 
him to constancy in the cause of Christ, and as she 
parted with him, said, " Husband, be glad ; we have 
lived together many joyful days, and this day of 
our death we ought to esteem the most joyful of 
them all, for we shall have joy forever ; therefore, 
I will not bid you good night, for we shall shortly 
meet in the kingdom of Heaven." After the men 
were executed, Helen was taken to a pool of water 
ard by, when, having recommended her dear 
children to the charity of her neighbors, her infant 
having been taken from her breast, "she was 
drowned, and died," says the historian of the town, 
" with great courage and comfort." 

Perth rejoices in the possession of two beautiful 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 243 

" Commons," or " Inches," as they are called, green 
as emerald, and bordered by long avenues of mag- 
nificent trees. The Tay gleams through the ver- 
dant foliage, and is seen winding, in serene beauty, 
far dow^n among the rich meadows and smooth 
lawns which adorn its banks. Behind it are the 
Sidlaw hills, and looming up, in the distance, the 
blue ridges of the Grampians. The lands around 
it are highly cultivated, and support a numerous 
race of farmers, many of whom have grown rich 
from the produce of the soil. 

But the shadows of evening are beginning to fall 
upon the landscape ; to-morrow is " the rest of the 
holy Sabbath," and a comfortable "'tween and sup- 
per-time" awaits us at the house of a friend at some 
distance from Perth, which we must immediately 
leave. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Sabbath Morning — ' The Sabbath/ by James Grahame — Sketch 
of his Life — Extracts from his Poetry — The Cameronians — 
* Dream of the Martyrs.' by James Hisiop — Sabbath Morning 
Walk — Country Church — The old Preacher — The Interval 
of Worship — Conversation in the Churchyard — Going Home 
from Church — Sabbath Evening. 

Sabbath morning dawns upon us, bright and 
clear, and all around a hushed stillness pervades 
the air. 

*' With silent awe I hail the sacred morn, 
That scarcely wakes while all the fields are still 5 
A soothing calm on every breeze is borne, 
A graver murmur echoes from the hill. 
And softer sings the linnet from the thorn ; 
The skylark warbles in a tone less shrill. 
Hail, light serene ! hail, sacred Sabbath morn ! 
The sky a placid yellow lustre throws ; 
The gales that lately sighed along the grove 
Have hushed their drowsy wings in dead repose j 
The hovering rack of clouds forgets to move, 
So soft the day when the first morn arose." 

Thus sang Leyden, the celebrated scholar, poet, 
and traveller, who, hke all true sons of Scotland, 
revered the holy Sabbath, regarding it as the best 
of days, the sweetest, purest, calmest of the seven ! 
The same images, borrowed not from Leyden, but 
from nature and his own heart, are used by Gra- 
hame, in his delightful poem of * The Sabbath,' a 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 245 

production not without defects, but one of the most 
popular in Scotland. 

" How still the morning of the hallowed day ! 
Mute is the voice of rural labor, husVd 
The ploughboy's whistle and the milkmaid's song. 
The scythe lies glittering in the dewy wreath 
Of tedded grass, mingled with fading flowers, 
That yestermorn bloomed waving in the breeze. 
Sounds the most ftiint attract the ear — the hum 
Of early bee, the trickling of the dew, 
The distant bleating, midway up the hill. 
Calmness seems throned on yon unmoving cloud. 
To him who wanders o'er the upland leas, 
The blackbird's note comes mellower from the dale ; 
And sweeter from the sky the gladsome lark 
Warbles his heaven-tuned song ; the lulling brook 
Murmurs more gently down the deep-sunk glen j 
While from yon lowly roof, whose curling smoko 
O'ermounts the mist, is heard at intervals 
The voice of psalm, the simple song of praise.'^ 

The Rev. James Grahame, the author of ' The 
Sabbath,' ' The Birds of Scotland,' * BibHcal Pic- 
tures,' and so forth, was born in 1765, in the city 
of Glasgow. He studied law, but afterwards took 
orders in the Church of England, and officiated as 
curate in the counties of Gloucester and Durham. 
He is said to have been a popular and useful 
preacher. Possessed of great simplicity of cha- 
racter, purity of morals, and kindness of heart, he 
won the affections of all his parishioners. Suffering 
from ill health, he gave up his curacy, and returned 
to Scotland, where he acted, we beheve, as a 
school-teacher. His poems, particularly that of 
' The Sabbath,' attracted much attention in his 
native land, which he dearly loved. A deep re- 

21* 



246 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

ligious vein pervades the whole. Attached to the 
ritual of his own church, he could yet appreciate 
the solemn * hill worship' of the Covenanters. His 
descriptions of Scottish scenery are accurate and' 
beautiful. His Sabbath is the Sabbath of Scotland. 
All its pictures are drawn from real life. His 
verse may seem prosaic at times, but it is melodi- 
ous as a whole. Nothing can be more natural or 
agreeable, in its easy gentle flow. Moreover, it 
often sparkles with original turns of thought, and 
feHcitous expressions. 

An interesting anecdote is told of Grahame in 
connection with the publication of * The Sabbath.' 
He had finished the poem, and sent it to the press 
unknown to his wife. When it was issued he 
brought her a copy, and requested her to read it. 
As his name was not prefixed to the work, she did 
not dream that he had anything to do with it. As 
she went on reading, the sensitive author walked 
up and down the room. At length she broke out 
in praise of the poem, and turning to him said: 
" Ah ! James, if you could but produce a poem like 
this." Judge then of her delighted surprise when 
told that he was its author. The effect upon her is 
said to have been almost overwhelming. 

After describing the solemn and delightful wor- 
ship of God's house, particularly the music, ascend- 
ing in ' a thousand notes symphonious,' he touch- 
ingly adds : 

" Afar they float, 
Wafting glad tidings to the sick man's couch : 
Raised ou his arm, he lists the cadence close, ' 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 247 

Yet thinks he hears it still : his heart is cheered ; 
He smiles on death ; but, ah ! a wish will rise — 
Would I were now beneath that echoing roof ! 
No lukewarm accents from my lips would flow j 
My heart would sing : and many a Sabbath day 
My steps should thither turn ; or wandering far 
In solitary paths, where wild flowers blow, 
Then would I bless his name who led me forth 
From death's dark vale, to walk amid those sweets — 
Who gives the bloom of health once more to glow 
Upon this cheek, and lights this languid eye." 

His description of the shepherd boy's Sabbath 
worship among the hills is a passage of great 
beauty. 

'' It is not only in the sacred fane 
That homage should be paid to the Most High ; 
There is a temple, one not made with hands, 
The vaulted firmament. Far in the woods, 
Almost beyond the sound of city chime^ 
At intervals heard through the breezeless air ; 
When not the limberest leaf is seen to move, 
Save when the linnet lights upon the spray 
When not a floweret bends its little stalk, 
Save when a bee alights upon the bloom — 
Then rapt in gratitude, in joy, and love 
The man of God will pass his Sabbath noon ; 
Silence his praise ; his disembodied thoughts 
Loosed from the load of words, will high ascend 
Beyond the empyrean. 

Nor yet less pleasing at the heavenly throne, 
The Sabbath service of the shepherd boy ! 
In some lone glen, when every sound is lulled 
To slumber, save the tinkling of the rill, 
Or bleat of lamb, or hovering falcon's cry. 
Stretched on the sward, he reads of Jesse's Son j 
Or sheds a tear o'er him to Egypt sold, 
And wonders why he weeps : the volume closed, 
V7ith thyme sprig laid between the leaves, he sings 



248 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

The sacred lays, his weekly lesson conned 
With meikle care beneath the lowly roof, 
Where humble love is learnt, where humble worth 
Pines unrewarded by a thankless state. 
Thus reading, hymning, all alone, unseen, 
The shepherd boy the Sabbath holy keeps, 
Till on the heights he marks the straggling bands 
Returning homeward from the house of prayer." 

The hill worship of the Covenanters is also de- 
scribed with much beauty and pathos. 

" With them each day was holy, every hour 
They stood prepared to die, a people doomed 
To death — old men, and youths, and simple maids. 
With them each day was holy ; but that morn 
On which the angel said, ^ See where the Lord 
Was laid,' joyous arose — to die that day 
Was bliss. Long ere the dawn, by devious ways, 
O'er hills, through woods, o'er dreary wastes, they sought 
The upland moors, where rivers, there but brooks 
Dispart to different seas. Fast by such brooks 
A little glen is sometimes scooped, a plat 
With greensward gay, and flowers that strangers seem 
Amid the heathery wild, that all around 
Fatigues the eye : in solitudes like these 
Thy persecuted children, Scotia, foiled 
A tyrant's and a bigot's bloody laws ; 
There, leaning on his spear, (one of the array 
That in the times of old had scathed the rose 
On England's banner, and had powerless struck 
The infatuate monarch and his wavering host, 
Yet ranged itself to"aid his son dethroned,) 
The lyart veteran heard the Word of God 
By Cameron thundered, or by Renwick poured 
In gentle stream : then rose the song, the loud 
Acclaim of praise ; the wheeling plover ceased 
Her plaint : the solitary place was glad. 
And on the distant cairns, the watcher's ear 
Caught doubtfully at times, the breeze-borne note* 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 249 

But years more gloomy followed, and no more 
The assembled people dared, in face of day. 
To worship God, or even at the dead 
Of night, save when the wint'ry storm raved fierce, 
And thunder peals compelled the men of blood 
To crouch within their dens, then dauntlessly 
The scattered few would meet, in some deep dell 
By rocks o'ercanopied, to hear the voice, 
Their faithful pastors voice : he, by the gleam 
Of sheeted lightning, oped the sacred Book, 
And words of comfort spoke : over their souls 
His accents soothing came — as to her young 
The heathfowFs plumes, when at the close of eve 
She gathers in her mournful brood, dispersed 
By murderous sport, and o'er the remnant spreads 
Fondly her wings, close nestling 'neath her breast 
They cherished, cower amid the purple blooms." 

This is finely pictured ; and, coming from a mem- 
ber of the Episcopal Church, does honor to his 
heart and head. Sir Walter Scott has somewhat 
injured the memory of the Scottish Covenanters, 
by presenting the darker features of their charac- 
ter, and forgetting utterly their earnest piety, their 
generous fervor, their heroic endurance. Many 
of them, doubtless, w^ere deficient in high-bred 
courtesy and learned refinement. Others were 
narrow-minded and superstitious. But the great 
mass of them were men of lofty faith, of generous 
self-sacrifice. They feared God, and perilled their 
lives for freedom, in the high places of the field. 
" Lately," says a vigorous writer in Blackwood's 
Magazine, " the Mighty Warlock of Caledonia has 
shed a natural and a supernatural light round the 
founders of the Cameronian dynasty ; and as his 
business was to grapple with the ruder and fiercer 



250 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

portion of their character, the gentle graces of their 
nature were not called into action, and the storm 
and tempest and thick darkness of John Balfour of 
Burley, have darkened the whole breathing con- 
gregation of the Cameronians, and turned their 
sunny hillside into a dreary desert." It requires 
men of no ordinary character to become martyrs 
for principle, especially when that principle is one 
of the highest order, and has been chosen calmly, 
deliberately, and in the fear of God. When such 
men go forth to defend the right, and shed their 
life's blood for its enthronement, their's is no vulgar 
enthusiasm, no unnatural and infuriate fanaticism. 
Read the following from James Hislop, once a 
poor shepherd boy, and afterwards a school-teacher, 
written near the grave of the pious and redoubtable 
Cameron, and several of his followers, slain by 
tyrants in the moor of Aird's-moss, and say whether 
such martyrs for truth are worthy of our reverence ! 

In a dream of the night I was wafted away 
To the muirland of mist where the martyrs lay, 
Where Cameron's sword and his Bible are seen, 
Engraved on the stone where the heather grows green. 

^Twas a dream of those ages of darkness and blood, 
When the minister's home was the mountain and wood ; 
When in Wellwood's dark vaUey the standard of Zion, 
All bloody and torn 'mong the heather was lying. 

'Twas morning, and summer's young sun from the east 
Lay in loving repose on the green mountain's breast ; 
On Wardlaw and Cairntable the clear shining dew, [blue. 
Glistened there 'mong the heath bells and mountain flowers 

And far up in heaven near the white sunny cloud, 
The song of the lark was melodious and loud, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 251 

And in Glenmuir's wild solitude, lengthened and deep, 
Were tlie whistling of plovers and bleating of sheep. 

And Wellwood's sweet valley breathed music and gladness, 
The fresh meadow blooms hung in beauty and redness ; 
Its daughters were happy to hail the returning, 
And drink the delights of July's sweet morning. 

But oh ! there were hearts cherished far other feelings, 
Illumed by the light of prophetic revealings, 
Who drank from the scenery of beauty but sorrow. 
For they knew that their blood would bedew it to-morrow. 

'Twas the few faithful ones, who with Cameron were lying 
Concealed 'mong the mist where the heathfowl was flying, 
For the horsemen of Earlshall around them were hovering, 
And their bridle reins rung through the thin misty coTering. 

Their faces grew pale, and their swords were unsheathed. 
But the vengeance that darkened their brow was unbreathed j 
With eyes turned to heaven, in calm resignation. 
They sung their last song to the God of salvation. 

The hills with the deep mournful music were ringing, 
The curlew and plover in concert were singing : 
But the melody died ^mid derision and laughter. 
As the host of ungodly rushed on to the slaughter. 

Though in mist and in darkness and fire they were shrouded, 
Yet the souls of the righteous were calm and unclouded, 
Their dark eyes flashed lightning, as firm and unbending. 
They stood like the rock which the thunder is rending. 

The muskets were flashing, the blue swords were gleaming, 
The helmets were cleft, and the red blood was streaming, 
The heavens grew dark, and the thunder was rolling, 
When in Wellwood's dark muirlands the mighty were falling. 

When the righteous had fallen, and the combat was ended, 

A chariot of fire through the dark cloud descended. 

Its drivers were angels on horses of whiteness. 

And its burning wheels turned on axles of brightness. 

A seraph unfolded its doors bright and shining, 
All dazzling like gold of the seventh refining, 



252 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

And the souls that came forth out of great tribulation 
Have mounted the chariot and steeds of salvation. 

On the arch of the rainbow the chariot is gliding, 
Through the path of the thunder the horsemen are riding ; 
Glide swiftly, bright spirits ! the prize is before ye, 
A crown never fading, a kingdom of glory !'' 

But we are forgetting oui'selves ; and as we pro- 
pose spending the Sabbath in a small country ham- 
let, at some distance, we must be off immediately. 
It would be gratifying to return to Perth and hear 
some of the clergymen there, Dr. Young especially, 
who is a preacher of great depth and energy ; but 
the Sabbath will be sweeter amidst the woods and 
hills. 

We enter a quiet unfrequented road, skirting 
around those fine clumps of trees, and that green 
hill to the west, and after wandering a few miles, 
we pass into a narrow vale, through which a small 
wooded stream makes its noiseless way, and adorn- 
ed on either side with rich green slopes, clumps of 
birches, and tufts of flowering broom. As you 
ascend the vale, it gradually widens, the acclivi- 
ties on either side recede to a considerable dis- 
tance, and the road, taking a sudden turn, runs 
over the hill to the left, and dives into a sort of 
natural amphitheatre, formed by the woods and 
braes around it. On the further side you descry a 
small antique-looking church, with two or three 
huge ash trees, and one or two silver larches sha- 
ding it, at one end, a pretty mansion built of free- 
stone, and handsomely slated, at a little distance 
at the other. Approaching, we find a few strag- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 253 

glers, as if in haste, entering the church door ; 
the bell has ceased tolling, and the service probably 
is about to commence. We enter, and find seats 
near the door. How tenderly and solemnly that 
old minister, with his bland look, and silver locks, 
reads the eighty-fourth psalm, and how reverently 
the whole congregation, with book in hand, follow 
him to the close. A precentor, as he is called, 
sitting in a sort of desk under ihe pulpit, strikes the 
tune, and all, young and old, rich and poor, imme- 
diately accompany him. The minister then offers 
a prayer, in simple Scripture language, somewhat 
long, but solemn and affecting. He then reads 
another psalm, which is sung, as the first was, by 
the whole congregation, and with such earnest and 
visible delight, that you feel at once that their 
hearts are in the service. The preacher then rises 
in the pulpit and reads the twenty-third psalm, as 
the subject of his exposition, or lecture, as the Scot- 
tish preachers uniformly style their morning's dis- 
course. His exposition is plain and practical, 
occasionally rising to the pathetic and beautiful. 
Ah, how sweetly he dwells upon the good Shep- 
herd of the sheep, and how tenderly he depicts the 
security and repose of the good man passing 
through the dark valley and the shadow of death. 
His reverend look, the tremulous tones of his 
voice, his Scottish accent, and occasionally Scot- 
tish phrases, his abundant use of Scriptural quota- 
tions, and a certain Oriental cast of mind, derived, 
no doubt, from intimate communion with prophets 
and apostles, invest his discourse with a peculiar 

22 



254 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

charm. It is not learned ; neither is it original 
and profound ; but it is good, good for the heart — 
good for the conscience and the Hfe. Old preach- 
ers, like old wine, in our humble opinion, are by far 
the best. Their freedom from earthly ambition, 
their deep experience of men and things, their pro- 
found acquaintance with their own heart, their evi- 
dent nearness to heaven, their natural simplicity 
and authority, their reverend looks and tremulous 
tones, all unite to invest their preaching with a 
peculiar spiritual interest, such as seldom attaches 
to that of young divines. Everything, of course, 
depends upon personal character, and a young 
preacher may be truly pious, and thus speak with 
much simplicity and power. But, other things 
being equal, old preachers and old physicians, old 
friends and old places possess qualities pecuKar to 
themselves. 

After the sermon, prayer is offered, and the 
whole congregation unite in a psalm of praise. 
The interval of worship, it is announced, will be 
one hour. A portion of the congregation return to 
their homes, but most of them remain. Some re- 
pair to a house of refreshment in the neighborhood, 
where they regale themselves on the simplest fare, 
such as bread and milk, or bread and beer. Others 
wander off, in parties, to the green woods or sunny 
knolls around, and seated on the greensward, eat 
their bread and cheese, converse about the sermon 
or such topics as happen to interest them most 
The younger people and children are inclined t 
ramble, but are not permitted to do so. Yet th. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 255 

little fellows will romp, • a very little^ and occa* 
sionally run off, but not so far as to be beyond call. 
A large number of the people have gone into the 
grave-yard connected with the church. Some are 
seated on the old flat tombstones, others on the 
greensward, dotted all around with the graves 
of their fathers. See that group there. The old 
man, with " lyart haffets" and broad bonnet, looks 
like one of the old Covenanters. The old lady, 
evidently his wife, wears a sort of hooded cloak, 
from which peeps forth a nicely plaited cap of lace, 
which wonderfully sets off her demure but agree- 
able features. These young people around them 
are evidently their children and grandchildren. 
How contented they look, and how reverently 
they listen to the old man. Let us draw near, and 
hear the conversation. 

" Why, grandfaither," says one of the younger 
lads, "don't you think th' auld Covenanters were 
rather sour kind o' bodies ?" 

"Sour!" replies the old man, "they had eneqch 
to mak' them sour. Hunted from mountain to 
mountain, like wild beasts, it's nae wonder if they 
felt waefu' at times, or that they let human passion 
gain a moment's ascendancy. But they were guid 
men for a' that. They were the chosen o' God, 
end wrastled hard against principalities and pow- 
ers, against the rulers o' the darkness of this world, 
gainst spiritual wickedness in high places. Read- 
j their lives, I've aften thocht they must ha'e 
^n kind o' inspired. Like the auld prophets and 
^rtyrs, they were very zealous for the Lord God, 



256 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

and endured, cheerfully, mair distress and tribula- 
tion than we can well imagine." 

" Weel, weel !" says one of the girls, " I wish 
they had been a wee bit gentler in their ways, and 
mair charitable to their enemies." 

"Ah, Nancy," is the quick reply of the old man, 
" ye ken but little about it. A fine thing it is for 
us, sitting here in this peacefu' kirkyard, wi' nane 
to molest us or mak' us afraid, to talk about gentle- 
ness and charitv. But the auld Covenanters had 
to encounter fire and steel. They wandered over 
muir and fell, in poverty and sorrow, being desti- 
tute, afflicted, tormented. But oh, my bairns ! they 
loved and served the Lord ! They endured as 
seeing him who is invisible ; and when they cam' 
to dee, they rejoiced that they were counted wor- 
thy to suffer for his name. Nae doot, some of 
them were carnal men, and ithers o' them had 
great imperfections. But the maist o' them were 
unco holy men, men o' prayer, men o' faith, aye, 
and men of charity of whom the world was not 

worthv." 

%/ 

This answer silences all objections. 
But the bell, from the old church tower, begins 
to toll. 

''Slowly the throng moves o'er the tomb-paved ground, 
The aged man^ the bowed down, the blind 
Led by the thoughtless boy, and he who breathes 
With pain, and eyes the new-made grave, well-pleased ; 
These, mingled with the young, the gay, approach 
The house of God — these, spite of all their ills, 
A glow of gladness feel ; with silent praise 
They enter in : a placid stillness reigns. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 257 

Until the man of God, worthy the name, 
Opens the book, and reverentially 
The stated portion reads." 

The services of the afternoon are much the same 
as those of the morning, except that the preacher 
comments briefly on the portion of Scripture read 
at the opening of the service, and dehvers a regu- 
lar discourse, from a single text. The congrega- 
tion follow the preacher with evident attention, 
and look up in their Bibles, which all have in their 
hands, the passages of Scripture cited as proofs and 
illustrations. This, w^ith an occasional cough, and 
a little rustling from the children, are the only 
sounds which break the solemn stillness of the 
scene. 

Dismissed, with a solemn benediction, all take 
their several ways homeward. The sun is going 
down ; but its mellow light yet lingers upon the 
uplands, and tinges the foliage of the trees with 
supernal tints. A sabbath stillness reigns over 
hill and dale. The very trees appear to slumber ; 
the birds are silent, except a single thrush, which, 
in the deep recesses of that shadowy copsewood, 
appears to be singing " her hymn to the evening." 
A little later, you might hear the voice of psalms 
from the low thatched cottage, on the hillside or 
in the glen. For, in Scotland, family worship is 
generally maintained, and singing, in which the 
whole family join, always forms a part of the ex- 
ercises. 

'• They chant their artless notes in simple guise ; 
They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim 5 

22* 



258 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Perhaps Dundeeh wild warbling measures rise, 
Or plaintive Martyrs^ worthy of the name, 

Or noble Elgin beets the heavenward flame, 
The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays." 

Wandering thus, through the fields, with Sabbath 
influences all around us, it is impossible not to be 
grateful and devout. A holy calm steals upon the 
mind — a heavenly beatitude, akin to that of angels 
and the spirits of just men made perfect. 

" Oh Scotland ! much I love thy tranquil dales ; 
But most on Sabbath eve, when low the sun 
Slants through the upland copse, ^tis my delight. 
Wandering and stopping oft, to hear the song 
Of kindred praise arise from humble roofs ; 
Or when the simple service ends, to hear 
The lifted latch, and mark the grey -haired man, 
The father and the priest, walk forth alone 
Into his garden plat and little field. 
To commune with his God in secret prayer — 
To bless the Lord that in his downward years 
His children are about him : sweet, meantime 
The thrush that sings upon the aged thorn. 
Brings to his view the days of youthful years, 
When that same aged thorn was but a bush ! 
Nor is the contrast between youth and age 
To him a painful thought •, he joys to think 
His journey near a close ; heaven is his home." 

Thus, in his own simple and charming style, Gra- 
hame describes the Sabbath evening. So beautiful 
it is, so Sabbath-like, in its spirit and tone, that we 
venture one extract more. 

"Now, when the downward sun has left the glens, 
Each mountain's rugged lineaments are traced 
Upon the adverse slope, where stalks gigantic 
The shepherd's shadow, thrown athwart the chasm, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 259 

As on the topmost ridge he homeward hies. 
How deep the hush ! the torrent's channel dry, 
Presents a stony steep, the echo's haunt. 
But harkj a plaintive sound floating along ! 
'Tis from yon heath-roofed shieling ; now it dies 
Away, now rises full ; it is the song 
Which He, who listens to the hallelujahs 
Of choiring seraphim, delights to hear ; 
It is the music of the heart, the voice 
Of venerable age, of guileless youth, 
In kindly circle seated on the ground 
Before their wicker door. Behold the man, 
The grandsire and the saint ; his silvery locks 
Beam in the parting ray ; before him lies, 
Upon the smooth-cropt sward the open book, 
His comfort, stay, and ever new delight ; 
While heedless at his side, the lisping boy 
Fondles the lamb that nightly shares his couch." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

LocWeven — Escape of Glueen Mary from Lochleven Castle — Mi- 
chael Bruce — Sketcli of his Life — Boyhood — College Life — 
Poetry — '• Lochleven" — Sickness — " Ode to Spring" — Death — 
" Ode to the Cuckoo." 

Pursuing our journey southward, next day finds 
us on the banks of Lochleven, distinguished not so 
much from the beauty of its situation, as from its 
poetic and historical associations. It is adorned 
with four small islands, the principal of which are 
St. Serf's Isle near the east end, so called from its 
having been the site of a priory dedicated to St. 
Serf, and another near the shore on the west side, 
which immediately attracts the eve, from its con- 
taining the picturesque ruins of Lochleven Castle, 
in which Mary, Queen of Scots, was confined, and 
from which she made her wonderful escape. Here, 
also, Patrick Graham, Archbishop of St. Andrews, 
and grandson of Robert the Third, was imprisoned, 
in consequence of a generous attempt to reform 
the profligate lives of the Catholic clergy. In this 
place he died, and was buried in the monastery of 
St. Serf The keys of the castle, thrown into the 
lake at the time of Queen Mary's flight, have re- 
cently been found by a young man belonging to 
Kinross, and are now in the possession of the Earl 
of Morton. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 261 

The castle, with its massive tower yet standing, 
looks dismal enough, but how much it is beautified 
by the fine old trees and shrubbery which encircle 
it, and the mellow light which mantles its hoary 
sides ! 

" Gothic the pile, and high the solid walls, 
"With warlike ramparts, and the strong defence 
Of jutting battlements : an age's toil ! 
No more its arches echo to the noise 
Of joy and festive mirth. No more the glance 
Of blazing taper through its window beams, 
And quivers on the undulating wave ; 
But naked stand the melancholy walls, 
Lash'd by the wint'ry tempest, cold and bleak 
That whistles mournful through the empty halls 
And piecemeal crumble down the towers to dust." 

This description is by Michael Bruce, whose 
early promise and premature death have awakened 
so much sympathy among all classes in Scotland. 
He was born in the vicinity of Lochleven, and has 
written a poem of considerable merit descriptive 
of the lake and surrounding scenery. His " Ode to 
Spring," and especially his " Ode to the Cuckoo," 
now universally acknowledged to be his, are among 
the most beautiful poems in the English language. 
He was born at Kinnesswood, parish of Portmoak, 
on the 27th of March, 1746. By going round to 
the north-east bank of the lake, we shall find this 
village, insignificant in itself, but sweetly situated 
on the south-west declivity of the Lomond hills. 
Ascending a narrow lane, we reach, near its centre, 
the house in which Bruce was born. It consists 
of two stories, with a thatched roof. Michael's 



262 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

parents were very poor, and occupied only the 
upper part of the house, which served them at 
once for a workshop and dwelling, " A true nest- 
ling place of genius," exclaims his biographer, 
quoting the words of Washington Irving respect- 
ing the birth-place of Shakspeare, " which delights 
to hatch its offspring in bye corners." Mean as it 
is, an angelic soul has been here, and a charm lin- 
gers upon its homely walls. Dr. Huie of Edin- 
burgh has given the following touching account of 
a visit which he paid to this place, in company 
with one of Bruce's old friends. " On returning," 
says he, " from Portmoak church-yard, where 
Bruce is buried, I attended my venerable guide to 
the lowly dwelling where the parents of the poet 
resided. We first entered the garden : ^ This,' 
said Mr. B. ' was a spot of much interest to Mi- 
chael. Here he used alternately to work and to 
meditate. There stood a row of trees which he 
particularly cherished, but they are now cut down,' 
added the good old man, and as he said this, he 
sighed. ' Here again,' said he, ' was a bank of soft 
grass on which Michael was accustomed to recline 
after he became too weak to walk ; and here his 
father would sit beside him in the evening, and 
read to amuse him.' We next entered the house. 
I experienced an involuntary feeling of awe when 
I found myself in the humble abode, where neg- 
lected worth and talents had pined away and died. 
The little square windows cast but a feeble light 
over the apartment, and the sombre shades of 
evening, for the sun had now set, were strikingly 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 263 

in unison with the scene. * There/ said my con- 
ductor, ' auld Saunders used to sit at his loom. In 
that corner stood the bed where the auld couple 
slept, in this the bed which was occupied by Mi- 
chael, and in which he died.' The good old man's 
eyes filled as he spoke. I found it necessary to 
wipe my own. I was not ashamed of my tears. 
They were a tribute to departed genius, and there 
was nothing unmanly in their flow." 

Saunders Bruce, as he was called, the father of 
Michael, had eight children, and as the business of 
weaving has always been a poor one in Scotland, it 
was with extreme difficuky that he was enabled to 
give Michael a suitable education, though early per- 
ceiving in him the seeds of genius. Saunders was 
a pious thoughtful man, universally respected, and 
a sort of village chronicle. He is supposed to be 
referred to in the poem of Lochleven, in the lines 
commencing, — 

^' I knew an aged swain whose hoary head 
Was bent with years, the village chronicle," etc. 

Of his mother we have no means of forming a 
judgment, and suspect that her character was not 
particularly marked. It is his father to whom Mi- 
chael himself, and the friends that knew him, chief- 
ly refer in connection with his early studies and 
pursuits. Some indeed have intimated that the 
stern orthodoxy of the old man was called into re- 
quisition to repress the youthful aspirings of his son, 
particularly in the matter of books, but of this not 
the slightest evidence can be adduced. 



264 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

He succeeded in procuring copies of Shakspeare, 
Pope, Milton, Fontenelle and Young, all of which 
he devoured with avidity and delight. The Scrip- 
tures he read at home and at school, and thus be- 
came familiar with the magnificent images and 
thrilling conceptions of oriental inspiration. 

Michael was a great favorite at school, and made 
rapid progress in his studies. But he was frequent- 
ly called away from school, partly by sickness, to 
which he was subject at an early age, and partly 
by his father's straitened circumstances. On this 
latter account he was employed for a time as a 
shepherd, on the Lomond hills, which rise in ver- 
dant beauty behind his native village. This, how- 
ever, was rather a benefit than an injury to his 
mind as well as body. His poem of " Lochleven'* 
is made up of reminiscences of the romantic scenes 
with which at that time he became famiHar : — 

'• Where he could trace the cowslip-covered bank 
Of Leven. and the landscape measure round." 

" The late proprietor of the upper Kinneston, a 
small estate upon the southwest declivity of the 
Lomond hills, used to relate with much feeling, the 
amusing stories told him, and the strange questions 
put to him by Michael when herding his father's cat- 
tle, and how he would offer his services to carry 
the boys' meals to the hill, for the sake of having 
half an hour's conversation with this interesting 
youth."* While his progress in learning was much 

* Memoir of Bruce, by Dr. Mackelvie, to which I am chiefly 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 265 

interrupted in this way, his mind was advancing, 
nevertheless, by communion with nature and his 
own individual heart. Besides, his frequent ab- 
sence from school was compensated by the prose- 
cution of his studies on the hillside, or by his father's 
ingle, so that w^hen he returned to school, it took 
him but a few days to reach the top of his class. 
Though modest, and even shy, he had great in- 
fluence with his school-fellows. Somehow they re- 
garded him as a sort of superior being, and his 
word among them was law\ This, doubtless, arose 
from the originality of his character, which devel- 
oped itself at a very early age. 

'• Silent when glad, affectionate though shy, 
And now his look was most demurely sad. 
And now he laughed aloud, and none knew why. 
And neighbors stared and sighed, and bless'd the lad; 
Some deemed him wondrous wise, and some believed him mad.'* 

Beattie's Minstrel. 

The same deference, it is said, was paid him at 
home. Indeed, he was the pet of the family, and 
all vied to make Michael comfortable and happy, a 
homage to genius and worth infinitely more precious 
than the plaudits of the world. 

While attending school, he formed some interest- 
ing friendships, particularly with William Arnot, a 
peculiarly amiable young man, who died in early 
life, and to whom Bruce makes a touching refer- 
ence in " Lochleven." Through the son he be- 

; came acquainted with the father, a wise and liberal 

I '. — 

' indebted for the facts of which the accompanying sketch is com- 

23 



266 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

man, who greatly assisted Michael in his studies, 
and gave him the free use of his library. It is to 
him the following description refers. 

^' How blest the man, who, in these peaceful plains, 
Ploughs his paternal field ; far from the noise, 
The care and bustle of a busy world ! 
All in the sacred, sweet, sequestered vale 
Of solitude, the secret primrose path 
Of rural life he dwells ; and with him dwells 
Peace and content, twins of the sylvan shade, 
And all the graces of the golden age. 
Such is Agricola, the wise, the good ; 
By nature formed for the calm retreat, 
The silent path of life. Learned, but not fraught 
With self-importance, as the starched fool 
Who challenges respect by solemn face. 
By studied accent, and high-sounding phrase, 
Enamored of the shade, but not morose. 
Politeness, raised in courts by frigid rules 
With him spontaneous grows. Not books alone, 
But man his study, and the better part ; 
To tread the ways of virtue, and to act 
The various scenes of life with God's applause. 
Deep in the bottom of the flowery vale. 
With blooming sallows, and the leafy twine 
Of verdant alders fenced, his dwelling stands 
Complete in rural elegance. The door 
By which the poor or pilgrim never passed 
Still open, speaks the master's bounteous heart. 
Then, O how sweet ! amid the fragrant shrubs, 
At evening cool to sit ; while, on their boughs 
The nested songsters twitter o'er their young ; 
And the hoarse low of folded cattle breaks 
The silence, wafted o'er the sleeping lakes. 
Whose waters glow beneath the purple tinge 
Of western cloud ; while converse sweet deceives 
The stealing foot of time !" 

He found an opportunity of acquiring the Latin 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 267 

language and preparing for college, with a Mr. 
Dun, who, for the sake of his son, formed a class 
of boys, of which Michael was decidedly the best 
scholar, as all acknowledged. 

But he was of a slender make, and gave early 
indications of pulmonary consumption. In his 
personal appearance he is said to have resembled 
Shelley ; having yellowish curling hair, a long 
neck and narrow^ chest, skin white and shining, 
and his cheeks " tinged with red rather than ruddy." 
He was " early smitten with the love of song," and 
began occasionally to write verses. Possessed of 
a fine musical ear, he was impatient to get hold of 
all sorts of old ballads and songs ; and while the 
other children of the village or school were amu- 
sing themselves with play, or spending their money 
on trash, he was poring with delighted eyes over 
♦* Chevy Chase," or "The Flowers of the Forest." 
When he had made himself famihar with the music 
and sentiments of these ballads, he would endeavor 
" to supply his lack of novelty with verses of his 
own." It is in this way, probably, that his fine 
ballad of " Sir James the Ross," and some of his 
pastorals originated. 

After he had left school, and saw no way of pur- 
suing his studies, a relative left him the sum of two 
hundred merks Scots, about sixty dollars, when it 
was resolved forthwith that Michael should repair 
to Edinburgh University. Mr. Arnot encouraged 
him in this enterprise, and promised some assis- 
tance, in the shape of provisions and so forth. 
Accordingly he set out for the metropolis, and 



268 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

entered college. But he was often subjected to 
severe privations. Some of his fellow students 
who suspected his povertj^ were willing to share 
their meals with him, but he could not bear the 
thought of being fed out of pity, and whenever he 
imagined the invitation to proceed from this feeling 
he uniformly declined it. He was high-spirited ; 
and yet he was truly pious. Indeed, he had de- 
voted himself to Heaven in his boyhood, and never 
swerved from the high principles of Christian in- 
tegrity. 

At college Bruce became acquainted with seve- 
ral young men who subsequently acquired distinc- 
tion. Dr. Lawson and the Rev. John Logan were 
his fellow students and warmly attached friends. 
His relations with Logan subsequently became in- 
volved, much to the discredit of the latter, who is 
suspected of having dealt ungenerously with his 
friend's poems, which, after the death of Bruce, 
were committed to his care. He is charged par- 
ticularly with purloining the " Ode to the Cuckoo," 
and publishing it as his own. Logan was a singu- 
lar man — an orator of a high order, an accom- 
plished scholar, and an elegant poet. Some of his 
poems, particularly his " Visit to the Country in 
Autumn," " The Braes of Yarrow," " The Lament 
of Nature," and other odes and hymns, are beauti- 
ful and finished productions. Some of his dis- 
courses, preached at Leith, through not profound, 
are eloquent and effective. But he was imper- 
fectly imbued with the high principles which he 
endeavored to recommend to others, and he has 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 269 

greatly tarnished his fair fame by the use which, 
he is supposed to have made of the labors of Bruce. 
It is probable, however, that the "Ode to the 
Cuckoo" was only drafted by Bruce, and subse- 
quently polished into its present state of perfection 
by the classic pen of Logan. 

The companion to whom, of all others, Bruce 
became the most attached at college, was Mr. 
William Dryburgh, from Dysart. Like Bruce, he 
was possessed of piety and genius, and like him, 
too, suffered from pulmonary disease, and died in 
early Hfe. Both had a presentiment that they were 
destined to a premature grave. And this, with 
their bright hope of a blessed immortality, was the 
frequent subject of their conversations. Dryburgh 
died in his eighteenth year, and Bruce followed 
him in less than a year after. How keenly he felt 
this separation may be gathered from the following 
letter to a friend, written on receiving the intelli- 
gence of Dryburgh's death : — 

" I have not many friends, but I love them well. 
Death has been among the few I have. Poor 
Dryburgh ! — but he is happy. I expected to have 
been his companion through life, and that we should 
have stepped into the grave together ; but Heaven 
has seen meet to dispose of him otherwise. What 
think you of this world ? I think it very little 
worth. You and I have not a great deal to make 
us fond of it ; and yet I would not exchange my 
condition with any unfeeling fool in the universe, 
if I were to have his dull hard heart into the bar- 
gain. Farewell, my rival in immortal hope ! My 

23* 



270 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

companion, I trust, for eternity ! Though far dis- 
tant, I take thee to my heart ; souls suffer no sepa- 
ration from the obstruction of matter, or distance 
of place. Oceans may roll between us, and cli- 
mates interpose in vain — the whole material crea- 
ation is no bar to the winged mind. Farewell ! 
through boundless ages, fare thee well ! May'st 
thou shine when the sun is darkened. May'st thou 
live and triumph when time expires ! It is at least 
possible that we meet no more in this foreign land, 
in this gloomy apartment of the universe of God. 
But there is a better world in which we may meet 
to part no more. Adieu.'' 

But the grief of a true poet embodies itself in 
verse. The following lines, on the death of Dry- 
burgh, were found among Bruce's papers. 

Alas ! we fbndly thought that heaven designed 

His bright example mankind to improve ; 
All they should be was pictured in his mind, 

His thoughts were virtue, and his heart was love. 

Calm as the summer sun's unruffled face, 
He looked unmoved on life's precarious game, 

And smiled at mortals toiling in the chase 
Of empty phantoms, opulence and fame. 

Steady he followed virtue's onward path. 

Inflexible to error's devious way, 
And firm at last, in hope and fixed aith, 

Through death's dark vale he trod without dismay. 

Whence then these sighs ? And whence this falling tear 

In sad remembrance of his merit just ? 
Still must I mourn ! for he to me was dear 

And still is dear, though buried in the dust. 

Bruce's father made great efforts, by means of 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 271 

saving and borrowing, to assist his son during his 
college course, and Mr. Arnot continued to send 
him occasional supplies from his farm and dairy. 
But he was sadly straitened in the matter of books. 
The following letter upon this subject is character- 
istic and striking. 

"Edinburgh, Nov. 27, 1764.— I daily meet with 
proofs that money is a necessary evil. When in 
an auction, I often say to myself, how happy should 
I be if I had money to purchase such a book ! 
How well should my library be furnished, *nisi 
obstat res angusta domi,' 

* My lot forbidSj nor circumscribes alone 
My growing virtues, but my crimes confines.' 

Whether any virtues would have accompanied 
me in a more elevated station is uncertain, but that 
a number of vices of which my sphere is incapable, 
would have been its attendants, is unquestionable. 
The Supreme Wisdom has seen this meet, and the 
Supreme Wisdom cannot err." 

The annual session in the colleges of Scotland 
lasts only from six to eight months, and thus leaves 
considerable time for relaxation and private study, 
or for other occupations necessary to recruit the 
students' exhausted finances. At the end of each 
of these terms, Michael returned home, much ex- 
hausted by his application to study. His system, 
however, soon recovered its wonted energy in the 
congenial scenes of his boyhood, and the kind at- 
tentions of the proprietor of Portmoak. Still he 
was seldom in perfect health, and often complained 



272 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

of headache and depression of spirits. Most of his 
time during the summer months, the season of va- 
cation, was spent either in reading or in writing 
poetry. 

During his last session at College, Michael ac- 
cepted a proposal to teach a small school at Gairney 
Bridge, which lies on a small stream running into 
Lochleven. He finished his collegiate studies hon- 
orably, having distinguished himself chiefly in rhet-- 
oric and belles lettres. At Gairney Bridge he had 
some thirty or forty pupils under his care, whom 
he governed entirely without the rod, then pretty 
thoroughly used in Scotland. But the compensa- 
tion was a mere trifle, not exceeding more than 
sixty or seventy dollars a year. 

It was in this place that he wrote several of his 
poems, and became deeply attached to a beautiful 
young woman in the neighborhood, to whom, how- 
ever^ he never declared his passion. 

About this time he joined the church in Kinross, 
under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Swanston, 
recently appointed professor of Theology in the 
United Secession Church. This learned and amia- 
ble man conceived a strong attachment for Michael, 
and ever treated him with the greatest considera- 
tion and kindness. Subsequently he engaged to 
teach a school at Forest Mill, a dreary sort of place, 
with miserable school accommodations. His health 
too, w^as declining. While fording the Devon on 
horseback, the horse stumbled and immersed him 
in the stream, a circumstance which greatly ag- 
gravated his consumptive tendency. Moreover he 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 273 

was disappointed in his school, and his health and 
spirits rapidly declined. In a letter to Mr. Arnot, 
he says, " I expected to be happy here, but I am 
not. The easiest part of my life is past. I some- 
times compare my condition with that of others, 
and imagine if I was in theirs it would be well. 
But is not everybody thus ? Perhaps he whom I 
envy thinks he would be glad to change with me, 
and yet neither would be better for the change. 
Since it is so, let us, my friend, moderate our hopes 
and fears, resign ourselves to the will of Him who 
doeth all things well, and who hath assured us that 
he careth for us. 

' Si res sola potest facere et servare beatum 
Hoc primus repetas opus, hoc postremus omittas.' 

" Things are not very well in the world, but they 
are pretty well. They might have been worse, 
and such as they are may please us who have but 
a few short days to use them. This scene of affairs, 
though a very perplexed, is a very short one, and 
in a little while all will be cleared up. Let us en- 
deavor to please God, our fellow creatures and our- 
selves. In such a course of life we shall be as hap- 
py as we can expect in such a world as this. Thus 
you, who cultivate your farm with your own hands, 
and I who teach a dozen blockheads for bread, may 
be happier than he, who having more than he can 
use, tortures his brain to invent some new methods 
of killing himself with the superfluity." In this let- 
ter, worthy of Cowper or of Foster, we see a brave 
spirit struggling with the direst misfortunes, pover- 



274 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

ty and disease, and overcoming both by the silent 
might of a believing spirit. 

Another thing which greatly afflicted Bruce at 
Forest Mill, was the total want of agreeable scen- 
ery, and it was only by an effort of memory and 
imagination that he could, in some measure make 
up this deficiency, by recalling the delightful scen- 
ery of his early home. To this combination of un- 
favorable circumstances he touchingly refers in the 
poem of Lochleven, which was actually produced 
under their influence, as a means of relaxation and 
enjoyment. 

*' Thus sang the youth amid unfertile wilds, 
And nameless deserts, unpoetic ground ! 
Far from his friends he strayed, recording thus 
The dear remembrance of his native fields, 
To cheer the tedious night, while slow disease 
Preyed on his pining vitals, and the blasts 
Of dark December shook his humble cot.*' 

" Lochleven" is his longest, and in most respects, 
his most beautiful poem. It has defects, obvious 
enough to a critical eye, but its general excel- 
lei '-e strikes every reader. Its descriptions and de- 
lin*. ations are natural and striking, its imagery is 
simple and poetical, and its measure sweet and 
melodious. Nearly the whole of it has been " used 
up," in beautiful extracts by different writers of dis- 
tinction. 

But the composition of this poem seems to have 
been too much for Bruce's shattered frame ; for he 
was compelled almost immediately toreUnquishhis 
school. He had just strength to walk home to 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 275 

Kinnesswood, a distance of nearly twenty miles, 
resting only a short time at Turf-hills on the way. 
Though nowhere on earth could he be happier than 
in the humble cottage of his parents, it was yet the 
worst place in the world for his disease. '' The 
vapors rising from the lake," says his biographer, 
" particularly in spring, keep the atmosphere con- 
stantly in a state of moisture, whilst in the morn- 
ings and evenings the eastern haars, as the fogs 
which come up from the sea are called by the in- 
habitants, come rolling down the hills, and hang 
suspended over Kinnesswood like a dripping cur- 
tain." 

He had expected, in the quiet of his father's home 
and in the vicinity of his dear Lochleven, a resto- 
ration of health ; but in this hope he was disappoint- 
ed. The mark of death was upon him. The heart 
of the beauteous tree was poisoned by disease, and 
all its leaves faded and fell to the ground. It was 
under the consciousness of this fact, that he wrote 
his beautiful and affecting " Ode to Spring," which 
he sent to a dear friend to apprise him of his ? b- 
proaching dissolution. The following are its c« ;i- 
cluding stanzas. 

Now spring returns : but not to me returns 
The vernal joy my better years have knovm 5 

Dim in my breast, lifers dying taper burns, 
And all the joys of life with health are flown. 

Starting and shivering in the inconstant wind, 

Meagre and pale, the ghost of what I was, 
Beneath some blasted tree I lie reclined, 

And count the silent moments as they pass : 



276 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

The winged moments, whose unstaying speed 
No art can stop, or in their course arrest ; 

Whose flight shall shortly count me with the dead, 
And lay me down in peace with them at rest. 

Oft morning dreams presage approaching fate j 
And morning dreams, as poets tell, are true ; 

Led by pale ghosts, I enter Death^s dark gate, 
And bid the realms of light and life adieu. 

I hear the helpless wail, the shriek of wo ; 

I see the muddy wave, the dreary shore, 
The sluggish streams that slowly sleep below, 

Which mortals visit, and return no more. 

Farewell, ye blooming fields ! ye cheerful plains ! 

Enough for me the church-yard's lonely mound, 
Where melancholy with still silence reigns, 

And the rank grass waves o'er the cheerless ground. 

There let me wander at the shut of eve, 
When sleep sits dewy on the laborer's eyes ; 

The world and all its busy follies leave. 
And talk with Wisdom where my Daphne lies. 

There let me sleep, forgotten in the clay. 
When death shall shut these weary, aching eyes j 

Rest in the hopes of an eternal day, 
Till the long night is gone, and the last mom arise. 

He intimated his approaching death to another 
friend, in prose, as affecting as his poetry, and if 
possible, more instructive. 

" A few mornings ago, as I was taking a walk on 
an eminence which commands a view of the Forth, 
with the vessels sailing along, I sat down, and 
taking out my Latin Bible, opened by accident, at 
a place in the Book of Job, chap, ix : 23, * Now 
my days are passed away as the swift ships.' Shut- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 277 

ting the book, I fell a musing on this affecting com- 
parison. Whether the following happened to me in a 
dream or waking reverie I cannot tell, but I fancied 
myself on the bank of a river or sea, the opposite 
side of which was hid from view, being involved 
in clouds of mist. On the shore stood a multitude, 
which no man could number, waiting for passage. 
I saw a great many ships taking in passengers, and 
several persons going about in the garb of pilots, 
offering their service. Being ignorant, and curious 
to know what all these things meant, I applied to a 
grave old man who stood by giving instructions to 
the departing passengers. His name, I remember, 
was the Genius of Human Life. ' My son,' said 
he, ' you stand on the banks of the stream of Time. 
All these people are bound for ETERNITY, that 
undiscovered country whence no traveller ever re- 
turns. The country is very large, and divided into 
two parts, the one is called the Land of Glory ^ the 
other the Kingdom of Darkness, The names of 
those in the garb of pilots, are Religion^ Virtue^ 
Pleasure. They who are so wise as to choose Re- 
ligion for their guide, have a safe, though frequent- 
ly a rough passage ; they are at last landed in the 
happy climes where sorrow and sighing forever 
flee away. They have likewise a secondary direc- 
tor. Virtue ; but there is a spurious Virtue, who pre- 
tends to govern by himself; but the wretches who 
trust to him, as well as those who have Pleasure for 
their pilot, are either shipwrecked or are cast away 
on the Kingdom of Darkness. But the vessel in 
which you must embark^ approaches, and you must 

24 



278 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

he gone. Remember what depends upon your con- 
duct.' No sooner had he left me, than I found my- 
self surrounded by those pilots I mentioned before. 
Immediately I forgot all that the old man said to 
me, and seduced by the fair promises of Pleasure, 
chose him for my director. We weighed anchor 
with a fair gale, the sky serene, the sea calm. 
Innumerable little isles Ufted their green heads 
around us, covered with trees in full blossom ; dis- 
solved in stupid mirth, we were carried on regard- 
less of the past, of the future unmindful. On a sud- 
den the sky was darkened, the winds roared, the 
seas raged ; red rose the sand from the bottom of 
the deep. The angel of the waters lifted up his 
voice. At that instant, a strong ship passed by ; I 
saw Religion at the helm. ' Come out from among 
these,^ he cried. I and a few others threw our- 
selves out into his ship. The wretches we left 
were now tossed on the swelling deep. The wa- 
ters on every side poured through the riven vessel. 
They cursed the Lord ; when lo ! a fiend rose from 
the deep, and in a voice like distant thunder, thus 
spoke : — ' I am Abaddon, the first-born of death ; — 
ye are my prey. Open thou abyss to receive them !' 
As he thus spoke they sunk, and the waves closed 
over their heads. The storm was turned into a 
calm, and we heard a voice saying, * Fear not, I 
am with you. When you pass through the waters 
they shall not overflow you.' Our hearts were fill- 
ed with joy. I was engaged in discourse with one 
of my new companions, when one from the top of 
the mast cried out, ' Courage, my friends, I see the 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 279 

fair haven, the land that is yet afar off.' Looking 
up, I found it was a certain friend, who had mounted 
up for the benefit of contemplating the country be- 
fore him. Upon seeing yoUy (the friend to whom 
he was writing,) I was so affected that I started 
and awaked. Farewell, my friend, — Farewell !" 

See that fragile form, then, with the glowing 
spirit within, panting for freedom and its " native 
skies," borne along in the vessel of Religion, upon a 
calm and sunny sea. He looks aloft, and anticipates 
with serene and joyful trust, his entrance into the 
port of everlasting peace. The vessel glides, with 
increasing velocity, her sails all set, and gleaming 
in the reflected radiance of the spirit- world. Now 
she enters the port, and nears that blessed shore, 

*^ Where tempests never beat, nor billows roar." 

The few days which remained to Michael on 
earth, he spent in correcting his poem of the " Last 
Judgment," and in pluming his spirit for its upward 
flight. His bodily strength was exhausted, and he 
was obliged to keep his bed. His mind was medi- 
tative and hopeful, dwelling almost wholly upon 
various passages of Holy Writ, which he would re- 
peat and comment upon to his friends. 

Mr. George Lawson, afterwards Dr. Lawson, 
professor of theology in the " Secession Church," 
being called to preach for a settlement in the neigh- 
borhood of Kinnesswood, hastened upon his arrival 
there, to see his friend Bruce. He found him in 
bed, with his countenance pale as death, while his 
eyes shone like lamps in a sepulchre. The poet 



280 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

was delighted to see him, and spoke with as much 
ease and freedom as if he had been in perfect 
health. Mr. Lawson remarked to him that he was 
glad to see him so cheerful. " And why " said he, 
" should not a man be cheerful on the verge of hea- 
ven ?" " But," said Mr. L., " you look so emacia- 
ted. I am afraid you cannot last long." " You re- 
mind me," he replied, " of the story of the Irishman, 
who was told that his hovel was about to fall, and I 
answer with him, Let it fall, it is not mine /" 

This cheerfulness continued during his illness, 
till his mother, one morning, announced to him, just 
as he was awaking out of sleep, that Mr. Swanston 
was dead. He looked at her with a fixed stare, as 
if stunned by the intelligence. Upon recovering 
he satisfied himself as to the correctness of the 
statement, and was never afterwards seen to smile ! 
Still we do not attach much importance to this cir- 
cumstance ; for it often happens that when the coun- 
tenance is cold and ghastly, the heart within is warm 
and serene. He lingered for a month, manifesting 
little interest in what was said or done around him, 
and on the 5th of July, calmly and imperceptibly 
fell asleep, aged twenty-one years and three 
months. 

So fades a summer cloud away, 
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er, 

So gently shuts the eye of day, 
So fades a wave along the shore. 

Life's labor done, as sinks the clay, 

Light from its load the spirit flies, 
While heaven and earth combine to say. 

How blessed the Christian when he dies ! 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 281 

His Bible was found upon his pillow, marked 
down at Jer. xxii : 10, " Weep ye not for the dead, 
neither bemoan him ;" and on the blank leaf this 
homely but expressive verse was written : — 

^' *Tis very vain for me to boast, 
How small a price my Bible cost ; 
The day of judgment will make clear, 
^Twas very cheap or very dear." 

He was buried in the church-yard of Portmoak, 
in the very centre of the scenes hallowed and 
beautified by his muse. A monument has been 
erected to Bruce, through the subscription of his 
friends, of which the following is the simple but 
appropriate inscription : 

MICHAEL BRUCE, 

Born in 1747 at Kinnesswood, 

In the County of Kinross, 

Died at the age of twenty-one. 

In this brief space, 

Under the pressure of indigence and sickness, 

He displayed talents truly 

Poetical. 

For his aged mother's and his own support 

He taught a school here. 

The village was then skirted with old ash trees, 

The cottage in which he dwelt 

Was distinguished by a honeysuckle 

Which he had trained round its 

Lashed window. 

Certain inhabitants of his native county, 

His admirers, 

Have erected this stone 

To mark the abode 

Of 
Genius and Virtue. 
i 24* 



282 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Bruce was designed for the service of the church. 
In this view, as well as with reference to the culti- 
vation of his fine poetical talents, his death may be 
deemed a calamity. And yet, such a view of the 
case may fairly be questioned. For himself, is he 
not happier, in the bosom of his God ; and for us, 
does he not, by means of his Christian life, his he- 
roic death, his ethereal strains, embalmed in blessed 
memories of the past, preach more effectually than 
he could have done, even had he lived to occupy a 
material pulpit. " Being dead he yet speaketh," 
and speaketh with a power and pathos which can 
be reached only by the dead. 

Had we room we might give many pleasant ex- 
tracts from his poetry ; but we must content our- 
selves with his " Ode to the Cuckoo," in our judg- 
ment one of the most beautiful and perfect little 
poems in any language. 

TO THE CUCKOO. 

Hail, beauteous stranger of the grove ! 

Thou messenger of Spring ! 
Now heaven repairs thy rural seat, 

And woods thy welcome sing. 

What time the daisy decks the green, 

Thy certain voice we hear ; 
Hast thou a star to guide thy path, 

Or mark the rolling year ? 

Delightful visitant ! with thee, 

I hail the time of flowers, 
And hear the sound of music sweet. 

From birds among the bowers. 

The schoolboy wandering through the wood, 
To pull the primrose gay^ 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 283 

Starts the new voice of spring to liear,^''' 
And imitates thy lay. 

What time the pea puts on the bloom, 

Thou fliest thy local vale, 
Another guest in other lands, 

Another spring to hail. 

Sweet bird ! thy bower is ever green, 

Thy sky is ever clear ; 
Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, 

No winter in thy year ! 

O could I fly, I'd fly with thee ! 

We'd make, with joyful wing. 
Our annual visit o'er the globe, 

Companions of the spring. 

* In his own copy Bruce had written, "Starts thy curious 
voice to hear f curious is a Scotticism, being equivalent to strange. 
This Logan probably altered to save the quantity. But the 
original expression is preferred by good judges, as more natural 
and poetical. " It marks the unusual resemblance of the note of 
the cuckoo to the human voice, the cause of the start and imitation 
which follow." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Dunfermline — Ruins of the Abbey — Grave of Robert Bruce — 
Malcolm Canmore's Palace — William Henryson, the poet — Wil- 
liam Dunbar — Stirling Castle — Views from its Summit — City 
of Stirling — George Buchanan and Dr. Arthur Johnston — Fal- 
kirk—Linlithgow — Story of the Capture of Linlithgow Castle 
— Spirit of War — Arrival in Edinburgh. 

Bidding adieu to Lochleven, we journey slowly 
through a pleasant and highly cultivated region, 
till we reach the ancient town of Dunfermline, in 
which some of the old Scottish kings formerly held 
court, and which is yet adorned with the remains 
of a magnificent abbey. Robert Bruce was in- 
terred here, in complete armor, and much interest 
was excited, a few years ago, by the discovery of 
his skeleton. In the vicinity are the ruins of Mal- 
colm Canmore's palace and stronghold, standing on 
the edge of a deep romantic glen, in which, more 
than three hundred years ago, the poet Henryson, 
a schoolmaster in Dunfermline, was wont to wan- 
der, singing his beautiful lays, in the quaint and 
difficult dialect of former times. 

" In myddis of June, that jolly sweet sessoun, 

Cluhen that fair Phoebus, with his beamis brycht, 

Had dryit up the dew fra daill and doun, 
And all the land made with his lemys lycht ; 
In a morning betwene mid-dsy and nycht, 

I raiss and put all sluith and sleep on syde ; 

Ontill a wod I went allone, but gyd. (glad ?) 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 285 

Sueit was the smell of flowris quhy t and reid, 
The noyis of birdis rycht delitious ; 

The bewis brod blumyt abune my held ; 
The grund gowand with grassis gratious 
Of all pleasans that place was plenteous, 

With sueit odours and birdis armonie ; 

The mornyng mild my mirth was mair forthy. 

Henryson was contemporary with William Dun- 
bar, a poet, says Sir Walter Scott, unrivalled by 
any that Scotland has ever produced. He flour- 
ished at the court of James IV. His poems are of 
all sorts, allegorical, moral and comic. The fol- 
lowing lines on the brevity of human existence are 
a fair specimen of his style. 

This wavering warld's wretchedness, 
The failing and fruitless business. 
The misspent time, the service vain, 
For to consider is ane pain. 

The sliding joy, the gladness short. 
The perjured love, the false comfort, 
The seveir abade (delay), the slightful train (snare), 
For to- consider is ane pain. 

The sugared mouths, with minds therefra. 
The figured speech, with faces tway ; 
The pleasing tongues, with hearts unplain, 
For to consider is ane pain. 

In another poem he takes a more cheerful view 
of Hfe. 

Be merry, man, and tak' not sair in mind 

The wavering of this wretched world of sorrow : 
e To God be humble, to thy friend be kind. 

And with thy neighbors gladly lend and borrow, 
His chance to-night, it may be thine to-morrow, &c. 

From Dunfermline, we cross the country in the 



286 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

direction of Stirling, and of course linger to view 
the famous battle-ground of Bannockburn, immor- 
talized by the prowess of Scotland, and the poetry 
of Burns. 

But we approach Stirling Castle, one of the 
oldest and most imposing strongholds in the coun- 
try. How often have these old rocks rung again, 
" with blast of bugle free ;" and how frequently 
has the ground at its base been soaked with human 
blood ! The castle stands on a huge leage of basal- 
tic rock, rising rapidly from the plain, and over- 
looking the country far and near, and backed by 
the rising ground on which the city is built. As- 
cending to the summit we pass round it, by a 
narrow pathway cut in the sides of the mountain, 
and thence enjoy the most extensive and delightful 
views. How charmingly the Links of the Forth, 
as the serpentine windings of the river are called, 
adorn the rich vale, in which they love to linger, 
as if loth to depart. To the north and east are the 
Ochil hills, " vestured" in blue, and looking down 
upon fertile fields, umbrageous woods, and stately 
mansions. On the west lies the vale of Menteith, 
and far off the Highland mountains, lost in the 
mist. On another side are the pastoral hills of 
Campsie, and underneath our eye the town of Stir- 
ling, the Abbey Craig, and the ruins of Cambus- 
kenneth Abbey. The Forth, with " isles of eme- 
rald," and white sails skimming its glassy surface, 
expands into the German Ocean ; and Edinburgh 
Castle, just descried amid the haze, crowns the 
distant landscape. Stirling was a favorite resi- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 287 

dence of the Stuarts ; but the castle is now em- 
ployed only as a barracks for soldiery. 

Leaving the castle we pass into the city, by 
High Street, adorned with several palaces of the 
old nobility, antique-looking edifices, of a solid 
structure. Here was the palace of the Regent, 
Earl of Mar, whose descendants were the keepers 
of Stirling Castle. Here too was the palace of 
Sir WiUiam Alexander, "the philosophical poet" 
of the court of James the Sixth, and tutor to Charles 
the First, who created him Earl of Stirling. But 
an object of still greater interest is the tower where 
George Buchanan, the historian of Scotland, and 
one of the first scholars of his age, lived and wrote. 
He was tutor to James the Sixth of Scotland, and 
First of England. He wrote a paraphrase of the 
Psalms in elegant Latin verse, of which he was a 
perfect master. Most of this work was composed 
in a monastery in Portugal, to which he had been 
confined by the Inquisition about the year 1550. 
It was continued in France, and finished in Scot- 
land. His prose works, particularly his history of 
Scotland, are characterized by clearness and re- 
search. His celebrated contemporary, Dr. Arthur 
Johnston, was equally distinguished for the variety 
of his attainments, and his perfect command of the 
Latin tongue ; so that the one has been called the 
Scottish Virgil, and the other the Scottish Ovid. 
The Latin version of the Psalms by Buchanan is 
still used in some of the Scottish schools. It is ele- 
gant and faithful, but somewhat formal and para- 
phrastic. 



288 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

There are many objects of interest in Stirling , 
and the scenery around is rich and beautiful, and, 
moreover, associated in every part, with recollec- 
tions of the olden time ; but we cannot linger here. 
The stage-coach is waiting to take us to Falkirk, 
a town of great antiquity, having been the site of 
one of those military stations on the wall made by 
the Romans at their invasion of the country, known 
by the name of the Forts of Agricola. It w^as also 
the scene of one or two famous battles in the days 
of Wallace and Bruce. Being the principal town 
in the midst of a rich agricultural country, it is 
now the scene of immense fairs or trysts, as they 
are called, to which large droves of Highland 
cattle are brought annually for sale, and where an 
immense amount of business is transacted. But 
there is nothing here of sufficient interest to detain 
us ; so we proceed in the rail-cars to Edinburgh. 
In passing, we get a glimpse of the castle and 
palace of Linlithgow ; in the twefth century one 
of the most important burghs in Scotland, the resi- 
dence of several of the kings of Scotland, and the 
birth-place of Queen Mary. 

•^ Of all the palaces so fair 

Built for the royal dwelling 
In Scotland, far beyond compare 

Linlithgow is excelling. 
And in its park, in genial June, 
How sweet the merry linnet's tune, 

How blythe the blackbird's lay, 
The wild buck bells from thorny brake, 
The coot dives merry on the lake, 
The saddest heart might pleasure take 

To see a scene so gay.*' — Marmion. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 289 

When Robert Bruce was lying in Torwood 
Castle, not far from Falkirk, a man by the name 
of Binnoch, a farmer in the neighborhood, who 
supplied the garrison at Linlithgow, then in pos- 
session of the English king, proposed to Bruce to 
take possession of the garrison by a stratagem, 
which he accomplished. This incident has been 
wrought into a lively form by Wilson, not Profes- 
sor Wilson, but John Mackie Wilson, author of the 
Border Tales, of whom I shall have something to 
say by and by. The following is his account of 
the matter, somewhat condensed. 

Having been introduced to Bruce at Torwood, 
Binnoch intimated that he had something of great 
importance to communicate, and inquired whether 
he might speak with confidence. Being assured 
that he might, he proceeded thus : 

" Aweel sir, the business I cam' upon is just this. 
I supply the garrison, ye see sir, o' Lithgow wi' 
hay ; now Fve observed that they're a' wheen 
idle, careless fellow^s, mair ta'en up wi' their play 
than their duty." 

Bruce's eye here kindled with a sudden fire, and 
his whole countenance became animated with an 
expression of fierce eagerness that strongly con- 
trasted with its former placidity. He was now 
all attention to the communication of his humble 
visitor. 

" What ! the castle of Linlithgow, friend !" ex- 
claimed Bruce, with a slight smile of mingled sur- 
prise and incredulity. " You take the castle of 

25 



290 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Linlithgow ! Pray, my good fellow, how would 
you propose to do that V 

"Why sir, by a very simple process," replied 
Binnoch, undauntedly, " I wad put a dizen or fif- 
teen stout weel armed, resolute fellows, in my cart, 
cover them owre wi' hay, and introduce them into 
the garrison as a load o' provender. If they were 
ance in, an' the cheils were themselves of the richt 
stuff, ni wad my head to a pease bannock that the 
castle's ours in fifteen minutes." 

" And would you undertake to do this, my good 
friend ?" said Bruce, gravely, struck with the idea, 
and impressed with its practicability. 

" Readily, and wi' a richt guid will, sir," replied 
Binnoch, " provided ye fin' me the men ; but they 
maun be the very wale o' your fiock ; its no a job 
for faint hearts or nerveless arms." 

" The men ye shall have, my brave fellow ; and 
if ye succeed your country will be indebted to you. 
But it is a perilous undertaking ; there will be hard 
fighting, and ye may lose your head by it. Have 
you thought of that ?" 

" I have, sir," replied Binnoch, firmly. " As to 
the fechtin', we are like to gie them as guid as we 
get. And for the hangin', the Scotsman is no de- 
servin' o' the name that's no ready to brave death, 
in any form, for his country." 

Bruce caught the enthusiasm of the speaker ; a 
tear started into his eye, and seizing the hand of 
the humble patriot — 

" My noble fellow," he said, " would to God all 
Scotsmen were like thee. Beneath that homely 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 291 

plaid of thine there beats a heart of which any 
knight in Christendom might be proud. Lose or 
win, this shall not be forgotten." 

Having made the necessary arrangements, and 
agreed upon a sign, for communicating with each 
other, Binnoch took his departure from the castle 
of Torwood. 

The next day the men selected by Bruce were 
at Binnoch's house, having been admitted through 
the preconcerted signal. They repaired to the 
barn, and were snugly packed away in the hay 
cart, armed with steel caps and short swords. 
Everything being in readiness, Binnoch hid a 
sword amongst the hay, for his own use, and in 
such a situation that he could easily seize it when 
wanted. He also provided himself with a poniard, 
which he concealed beneath his waistcoat. Thus 
prepared at all points, the intrepid peasant set for- 
ward with his load of daring hearts, and having 
arrived at the castle, he and his cart were imme- 
diately admitted. They proceeded onwards till 
they came to the centre of the court-yard, when 
Binnoch gave the preconcerted signal to his asso- 
ciates, which was conveyed in the words, spoken 
in a loud voice — " Forward, Greystail, forward !" 
as if addressing his horse, which he at the same 
time struck with his whip to complete the de- 
ception. 

These words were no sooner uttered than the 
hay, with which the daring adventurers were 
covered, was seen to move, and the next instant 
it was thrown over upon the pavement, to the in- 



292 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

expressible amazement of the idlers who were 
looking on ; and, to their still greater surprise, 
fifteen armed men leapt, with fearful shouts, into 
the court-yard, when, being instantly headed by 
Binnoch, the work of death began. Every man 
within their reach at the moment was cut down. 
The guard-room was assailed, and all in it put to 
death, and passing from apartment to apartment, 
they swept the garrison, and took possession of it. 
The attack had been so sudden, so unexpected, 
and so vigorous, that its unfortunate occupants, six 
times their number, had no time to rally or defend 
themselves, and thus fell an easy prey to the bold 
adventurers. 

We have only to add that Binnoch was rewarded 
by Bruce, for this important service, with some 
valuable lands in the parish of Linlithgow; and 
that his descendants had for their arms a hay-wain, 
with the motto, virtute doloque.^ 

* The following is a different, and probably a more correct 
version of Binnoch's adventure, from Sir W. Scott's Tales of a 
Grandfather. " Binnoch had been ordered by the English gov- 
ernor to furnish some cart-loads of hay, of which they were in 
want. He promised to bring it accordingly ; but the night before 
he drove the hay to the castle, he stationed a party of his friends, 
as well armed as possible, near the entrance, where they could 
not be seen by the garrison, and gave them directions that they 
should come to his assistance as soon as they should hear him 
cry a signal, which was to be, ' Call all, call all !' Then he loaded 
a great waggon with hay. But in the waggon he placed eight 
strong men, well armed, lying flat on their breasts, and covered 
over with hay, so that they could not be seen. He himself walked 
carelessly beside the waggon ; and he chose the stoutest and bra- 
vest of his servants to be the driver, who carried at his belt a 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 293 

By the way, these two words, courage and stra- 
tagem, express the very spirit and essence of an- 
cient war, and indeed of all war, a relic of barba- 
rism, the most foul and horrible the world has 
ever seen. Defensible, perhaps, in cases of ex- 
tremity, when it is the last and only means of 
protecting our homes and altars, but in all other 
cases a fearful atrocity, fit only for cannibals and 
demons ! 

But yonder are the peaceful towers of Edin- 



Btrong axe or hatchet. In this way Binnoch approached the 
castle, early in the morning ; and the "watchmen, who only saw 
two men, Binnoch being one of them, with a cart of hay, which 
they expected, opened the gates, and raised up the portcullis, to 
permit them to enter the castle. But as soon as the cart had 
gotten under the gateway, Binnoch made a sign to his servant, 
who, with his axe, suddenly cut asunder the soam^ that is, the yoke 
which fastens the horses to the cart, and the horses finding them- 
selves free, naturally started forward, the cart remaining behind 
under the arch of the gate. At the same time Binnoch cried, as 
loud as he could, ' Call all, call all !' and drawing his sword, which 
he had under his country habit, he killed the porter. The armed 
men then jumped up from under the hay where they lay con- 
cealed, and rushed on the English guard. The Englishmen tried 
to shut the gates, but they could not, because the cart of hay re- 
mained in the gateway, and prevented the folding doors from 
being closed. The portcullis was also let fall, but the grating 
was caught in the cart, and so could not drop to the ground. The 
men who were in ambush near the gate hearing the cry, ' Call all, 
call all !' ran to assist those who had leaped out from among the 
hay ; the castle was taken, and all the Englishmen killed or made 
prisoners. King Robert rewarded Binnoch by bestowing on him 
an estate, which his posterity long afterward enjoyed. The Bin- 
nings of Wallyford, descended from that person, still bear in their 
coat armorial a wain loaded with hay, with the motto, ^ virtute 
doloque.' *' 

25* 



294 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

burgh, bathed in the sombre Ught of evening. The 
very castle looks like an image of repose, as it 
silently looms up amid the smoke and hum of the 
busy city. Signs of peace and prosperity are 
every where around us, indicating, if we have not 
yet reached, that at least we are approaching 
that happy time when " men shall beat their swords 
into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning 
hooks." 

*' O scenes surpassing fable, and yet true, 
Scenes of accomplished bliss ! which who can see, 
Though but in distant prospect, and not feel 
His soul refreshed with foretaste of the joy ?" 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Journey to Peebles — Characters — Conversation on Politics — 
Scottish Peasantry — Peebles — " Christ's Kirk on the Green" — 
A Legend — An old Church — The Banks of the Tweed — Its 
ancient Castles — The Alarm Fire — Excursion to the Vales of 
Ettrick and Yarrow — Stream of Yarrow — St. Mary's Lake and 
Dryhope Tower — " The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" — Growth of 
Poetry— Ballads and Poems on Yarrow by Hamilton, Logan 
and Wordsworth. 

On a cold, drizzly morning we start, in a sub- 
stantial stage-coach, well lined with cushions in- 
side, for the ancient town of Peebles, which lies to 
the south of Edinburgh, some twenty-five miles or 
more. The ' outsides' are wrapped in cloaks and 
overcoats, and literally covered in with umbrellas ; 
and from their earnest talking seem to be tolerably 
comfortable. The " Scottish mist," cold and pene- 
trating, would soon reach the skin of an unsheltered 
back; all hands, therefore, and especially the dri- 
ver in front, and the guard behind, are muffled to 
the neck with cravats and other appHances. Eyes 
and mouth only are visible, not indeed to the pass- 
ers by, but to the denizens of the stage-coach, who 
cling together for warmth and sociability. Our 
travelling companions inside are a Dominie from 
Auchingray, fat as a capon, with face round, sleek 
and shiny, little gray eyes glancing beneath a pla- 
cid forehead, and indicating intelligence and good 



296 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

nature ; and a south-country laird, a large, brawny 
man, with a huge face and huger hat, corduroy 
breeches and top boots, a coat that nearly covers 
the whole of his body, and a vest of corresponding 
dimensions. A mighty cravat is tied neatly around 
his capacious throat, and a couple of large gold 
seals dangle from beneath his vest. In addition to 
these two, a little man, thin and wrinkled, but with 
a clear, quick, restless eye, is sitting in the corner, 
squeezed into a rather straight place by the laird 
and the dominie. From his appearance and con- 
versation, we should take him to be a lawyer. 
With some little difficulty we get into conversa- 
tion, but once set agoing, it jogs on at a pretty 
fair pace. Insensibly it glides into politics, and 
becomes rather lively. The lawyer is evidently a 
whig, the laird a tory of the old stamp, and the 
dominie neither the one or the other, but rather 
more of a tory than anything else, as he is depen- 
dent, in some sense, upon 'the powers that be.' 

" For my part," says the laird, taking hold of his 
watch-seals, and twirling them energetically, " I 
do not believe in your two-faced radicals, who 
have more impudence in their noddles than money 
in their pockets, and who go routing about the 
country, crying up democracy and all that sort of 
stuff, to the great injury of her majesty's subjects.'* 

" But, my dear sir," replies the lawyer, " you for- 
get that money is not the summum bonum of hu- 
man life, and that the gentlemen to whom you 
refer are not impudent radicals, but clear-headed 
and patriotic whigs." 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 297 

" All gammon, sir ! all gammon !" is the rejoinder 
of the laird, " I wouldn't give a fig for the whole 
pack. One or two of them, I admit, are tolerably- 
respectable men. Lord John Russel belongs to 
the old nobility, and is a man of some sense, but 
sadly deceived, full of nonsensical plans and dan- 
gerous reforms. As to Dan. O'Connel, he is an old 
fox, a regular Irish blackguard, who has not heart 
enough to make a living by honest means, but 
fleeces it out of the starving Irish, in the shape of 
repeal rent ! Hang the rascal, I should be glad to 
see him gibbeted ! Hume is a mean, beggarly ad- 
venturer. And even Sir Robert Peel, with all his 
excellences, has made sad mistakes on the subject 
of reform and the corn laws. He's not the thing, 
after all ! Sadly out of joint, sir, sadly out of 
joint !" 

All this is said with such terrible energy, and 
such a menacing frown, that even the lawyer 
cowers a little, and the dominie is almost fright- 
ened. We think it best, upon the whole, to say 
little. But, plucking up courage, the lawyer re- 
plies : 

" Sir, you come to conclusions that are too 
sweeping. That Lord John Russel is a man of 
clear intellect and admirable forethought no one 
will think of denying. His plans are well matured, 
and, moreover, aim at the good of his country. 
Hume is a great political economist : Sir R. Peel 
is a man of the highest order of mind ; and Daniel 
O'Connel, with all his faults, possesses uncommon 



298 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

powers of eloquence, and, doubtless, seeks the 
good of his country." 

" The good of his country ! All humbug, sir ! If 
you had said his own good, you would have come 
nearer the mark. He's a rascal, sir, rely on it, a 
mean cowardly rascal, who, pretending to benefit 
the poor Irish, fills his own pockets with their hard 
earnings. I appeal to Mr. Cooper here, my re- 
spected friend, the parish schoolmaster of Auchin- 

gray." 

To which the dominie replies demurely : 
" As to my opinion, gentlemen, it is not of much 
consequence, but such as it is I give with all can- 
dor. In the first place I opine that we are liable 
somewhat to yield to our prejudices in estimating 
the characters of public men ; for, as my old friend, 
the Rev. Mr. Twist, used to say, they have * twa 
maisters to serve, the government and the public, 
and it's unco difficult sometimes to sail between 
Scylla and Charybdis.' Moreover, these are try- 
ing times, and much of primitive integrity and 
patriotism are lost. For myself, I do not approve 
altogether of the course of the whigs, and especially 
of the radicals. Daniel O'Connel is a devoted 
Catholic, with no generous aspirations, or enlarged 
conceptions of the public weal. A great man, cer- 
tainly, a wonderful orator, no doubt, but much 
tinctured with selfishness, and carried away by 
wild and prurient schemes. Lord John Russel is 
a man of decided talent and fine character, but I 
have not much confidence, after all, in his practical 
wisdom, and good common sense. Sir Robert 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 299 

Peel, however is, with some slight exceptions, a 
model statesman, a man of a wonderfully clear, well 
balanced mind, and a deep insight into men and 
things. Still, as my friend on the left says, he's 
somewhat out of joint just now, and, for my own 
part, I could never altogether approve his schemes." 

" There sir," quickly interposed the laird, " There 
sir ! didn' t I tell you, sir ? All humbug, sir ! Noth- 
ing safe — nothing useful about the whigs ! Give 
me the good old days of my grandfather, when the 
rascals dared not peep or mutter !" 

" But you forget, sir," is the answer of the law- 
yer, " that your friend, the schoolmaster here, has 
admitted nearly all for which I contend." 

" Admitted nothing, sir ! Comes to nothing, sir ! 
And to tell you the plain honest truth, I believe the 
whole pack of them are a set of humbugs ! All 
sham, sir ! nothing but hypocrisy and humbug !" 

"But a modification of the corn laws is cer- 
tainly desirable for the sake of the poorer classes, 
many of whom are living upon the merest trifle ;" — 
we venture to remark. 

" All a mistake, sir ! all a mistake ! An honest, 
sensible man can always make his way, and secure 
bread for his family !" 

"Well, but sm^ely you consider a shilling or 
eighteen pence a day rather miserable support !" 

" Not at all, sir ! not at all ! They're used to it, 
and thousands of them are happier than you or I '" 

" Upon this point we beg leave to doubt, and 
hope the time is not far distant when the common 
people will have cheap bread :" — we quietly rejoin, 



300 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

" Amen !'' responds the dominie. " That I am 
confident would be an improvement ; but how it is 
to be brought about is a question of great difficulty. 
The common people of Scotland are not so poorly 
off as foreigners represent them. Their habits are 
primitive and simple, and I certainly have known 
many families, particularly in the country, make 
themselves very comfortable on eighteen pence or 
a couple of shillings a day. 

" Give us an example, if you please !" 

"Why, there is James Thomson, a working 
man, who makes, upon an average, say eighteen 
pence or a couple of shillings sterling (fifty cents) 
daily, through the year. He has a wife and four 
children. He built himself a kind of stone and turf 
cottage on the edge of one of Lord B.'s planta- 
tions, with a but and a ben,* or a little out- house. 
One day I called in to see him about one of his 
children, and, in the course of conversation, asked 
him how he got along." 

" Brawly ;"t was the reply. 

*' Can you make ' the twa ends meet' at the close 
of the year V 

" Yes," said he, " and something mair than that. 
Last Candlemas I laid up nae less than ten and 
saxpence." 

" But how can you do it. Have you any land 
to cultivate ?" 

" A wee bittock," was the answer, " but it's 
graund for taties and turnips." 



♦ Two apartments. j Finely. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 301 

" Have you a cow ?" 

" O aye, we have a coo, and a gude coo she is." 

*' Well, what have you for victuals ?" 

" The best o' parritch and milk in the morning, 
and at nicht. And as for denner, we ha' nae great 
variety, but what's wholesome eneuch. And ye 
ken. Dominie C, that hunger's the best sauce." 

" True enough, but excuse me, I should like to 
know what you generally have for dinner." 

" Ou," said he, laughing, " the graundest kail i' 
the world, made o' barley, butter and vegetables, 
wi' a bit o' beef, or a marrow bane in't once in a 
while, and mealy tatties, scones and cakes, the 
very best in the kintra !" 

** Well, you're content !" 

" To be sure we are ! and gratefu', besides, to 
the Giver o' a' gude." 

" But you have a little pinch occasionally — in the 
cold and stormy winter weather ?" 

" Why ye-s — but it's nae mair than a body may 
expeck, and it's a great deal less than we deserve. 
For mysel' I ha' nae great reason to complain, but 
Sandy Wilson, ower the way, has had a sair time 
on t. 

" What's the matter ?" 

"Why, ye see, Sandy is no very able-bodied, 
and maybe a little shiftless, and he fell sick about 
the middle o' winter. His wife is a proud kind o' 
body, and she said naething to the neebors, and I 
jalouse they had a sair pinching time on't. The 
wee bit lassie seemed to be dwining awa', and 
Sandy, puir fellow, was just at death's door. But 

26 



302 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

the minister o' the parish found it out, and Sandy- 
was soon provided for. Hech sir ! we ought to 
be thankfu' that we hae our health. It's a great 
blessing. For if a man only has health and a clear 
conscience he needna fear famine or the deevil." 

" Sandy then got over his troubles, did he ?" 

" In a measure," was the cautious reply, " but 
the puir wee lassie grew paler and paler ; and noo 
her bonny brown hair is covered wi' the yird. She 
w^as a sweet bit lassie, but she was frail in the con- 
stitootion, ye see, and the hard famishing winter 
was ower muckle for her feeble frame. But she 
was weel cared for on her sick bed. And when 
she died, the hail kintra side turned out to attend 
the funeral, and mony tears were shed upon her 
wee bit grave. My Mary, who gaed to school wi' 
her, canna get ower it to this day. She was an 
unco bonny thing — sweet as the mornin' wat wi' 
dew, and gentle as a pet lamb. But her grave is 
green by this time, and Sandy is better off than he 
used to be." 

The burly laird listened attentively to this nar- 
rative, and at the close of it, a tear dimmed his eye. 
He gave a slight cough, as if to repress and to 
hide his rising emotion, and looking out the coach 
window, exclaimed, " There's Peebles, at last, and 
yonder's the sign of the Black Bull," as if he were 
prodigiously reheved. 

The day is brightening, and this ancient city on 
the Tweed, looks quite agreeable, reminding us of 
the days of old, when the kings and nobles of Scot- 
land used to witness, on its beautiful green, games of 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 303 

archery, golf, and so forth. It is supposed to be the 
scene referred to in the opening stanza of " Christ's 
Kirk on the Green," by James the First, the royal 
poet of Scotland. 

" Was never in Scotland hard nor sene, 

Sic dansing nor deray, 
Nouther at Falkland on the green, 

Nor Pebllis in the play ; 
As wes of wowarris as I wene, 

At Christ's Kirk on ane day ; 
Thair came our kittles washen clene, 

In thair new kirtillis of gray 
Full gay, 
At Christ's Kirk o' the Grene that day." 

This old town was burnt and laid waste more 
than once during the invasions of the English. 
Still, from its sequestered situation, it never figured 
largely in any great event. An antique bridge, con- 
sisting of five arches, connects the old and new 
towns, w^hich lie on either bank of the river. Ram- 
bling through the place, we come to a large mas- 
sive building, in a castellated form, known to have 
belonged to the Queensberry family, and believed 
to be the scene of a romantic incident, thus related 
by Sir Walter Scott : — " There is a tradition in 
Tweedale, that when Nidpath castle, near Peebles, 
was inhabited by the Earls of March, a mutual pas- 
sion subsisted between a daughter of that noble 
family and the son of the Laird of Tushielaw, in 
Ettrick Forest. As the alliance was thought unsuit- 
able by her parents, the young man went abroad. 
During his absence, the young lady fell into a con- 
sumption, and at length, as the only means of saving 



304 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

her life, her father consented that her lover should 
be recalled. On the day when he was expected to 
pass through Peebles, on the road to Tushielaw, the 
young lady, though much exhausted, caused herself 
to be carried to the balcony of a house in Peebles, 
belonging to the family, that she might see him when 
he rode past. Her anxiety and eagerness gave 
such force to her organs that she is said to have 
distinguished his horses' footsteps at an incredible 
distance. But Tushielaw, unprepared for the 
change in her appearance, and not expecting to see 
her in that place, rode on, without recognizing her, 
or even slackening his pace. The lady was unable 
to support the shock, and after a short struggle 
died in the arms of her attendants." 

Here are the ruins of some very old churches, 
one in particular, at the western extremity of the 
old town. This was the original parish church of 
Peebles, and was built upon the site of one still 
more ancient, occupied by the Culdees, (probably 
from Cultores Dei, worshipers of God,) an ancient 
class of monks, whose forms of worship and doctri- 
nal belief were extremely simple, and, as some sup- 
pose, evangeUcal. They had monasteries at Jona, 
and in various parts of Scotland, before the Anglo- 
Saxon period, and preserved for many years, the 
pure worship of God. An altar in St. Andrew's 
church, was dedicated to St. Michael, with a spe- 
cial endowment for the services of " a chapellane, 
there perpetually to say mes, efter the valow of the 
rents and possessions gevin thereto, in honor of Al- 
mighty God, Mary his Modyr, and Saint Michael, 



GENIUS OP SCOTLAND. 305 

for the hele of the body and the sawl of Jamys, 
King of Scotts, for the balyheis, ye burges, and ye 
communite of the burgh of Peebles, and for the hele 
of their awn sawlis. thair fadyris sawlis, thair mo- 
dyris sawlis, thair kinnis sawlis, and al Chrystyn 
sawlis." Part of the tithes of this church are now 
used to support a Grammar school, and while the 
people still worship Almighty God, they have but 
little reverence for " Mary his modyr, and St. Mi- 
chael." 

Let us wander along the banks of this far-famed 
and beautiful river, gliding sweetly through one of 
the most beautiful vales in Scotland, and once 
adorned with numerous castles and monasteries, 
whose mouldering remains yet diversify the land- 
scape. The whole vale of the Tweed, both above 
and below Peebles, was studded with a chain of 
castles, built in the shape of square towers, and or- 
dinarily consisting of three stories, to serve as a de- 
fence against the invasion of the English freeboot- 
ers. They were built alternately on each side of 
the river, and at such distances that one could be 
seen from the other. A fire kindled on the top of 
one of these, to give warning of a hostile incursion, 
could thus be perpetuated through the whole, till a 
tract of country seventy miles long, " from Berwick 
to the Bield," and fifty broad, was alarmed in a few 
hours. What objects of terror and sublimity these 
blazing summits, lighting, in a dark night, the whole 
valley of the Tweed, and flashing their ruddy 
gleam upon copsewood and river, hill-top and cas- 
tle turret ! 

26* 



306 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

" A score of fires, I ween. 
From height, and hill, and cliff were seen, 
Each with warlike tidings fraught, 
Each from each the signal caught ; 
Each after each they glanced in sight, 
As stars arise upon the night : 
They gleamed on many a dusky tarn 
Haunted by the lonely earn,* 
On many a cairn's grey pyramid, 
Where urns of mighty chiefs lie hid.'' 

Lay of the Last Minstrel. 

But the grey mist of evening is beginning to set- 
tle upon the vale of the Tweed, and the quaint old 
town of Peebles, " with its three old bridges, and 
three old steeples, by three old churches borne." 

With fair weather, and in admirable spirits, we 
set off next morning, after breakfast, and travel at 
an easy pace down the fair banks of the " silver 
Tweed," till we reach the pretty village of Inner- 
leithen, at the bottom of a sequestered dell, encir- 
cled on one side by high and partially wooded hills, 
and enlivened by the clear waters of the Tweed, 
rolling in front. Passing a handsome wooden 
bridge which crosses the river, we reach the ham- 
let of Traquair and Traquair house, and naturally 
enquire for the far-famed " Bush aboon Traquair." 
It is pointed out at the bottom of the hill which 
overlooks the lawn, where a few birch trees may 
be seen, the only remains of that dear old spot, 
made sacred by melody and song. Continuing our 
journey across the country, we get among the hills, 
and after travelling some time through a deep glen, 

* The Scottish eagle. 



I 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 307 

we see before us the " haunted stream of Yarrow," 
the very name of which has become a synonym 
for all that is tender in sentiment and beautiful in 
poetry. 

" And is this Yarrow ? This the stream, 
Of which my fancy cherished 
So faithfully a waking dream, 
An image that hath perished ?" 

Following in somewhat pensive mood, " its beauti- 
ful meanderings" through this hill-guarded valley, 
we come to St. Mary's Lake, lying in solemn but 
beautiful serenity among the mountains, whose 
heathy sides and bare cliffs are mirrored in her 
pellucid depths. 

" Nor fen nor sedge 
Pollute the pure lake's crystal edge ; 
Abrupt and sheer the mountains sink 
At once upon the level brink ; 
And just a trace of silver sand 
Marks where the water meets the land. 
Far, in the mirror bright and blue, 
Each hilPs huge outline you may view ; 
Shaggy with heath, but lonely bare, 
Nor tree, nor bush, nor brake is there, 
Save where of land, yon slender line 
Bears thwart the lake the scattered pine. 
Nor thicket, dell, nor copse you spy. 
Where living thing concealed might lie ; 
Nor point retiring hides a dell 
Where swain or woodman lone might dwell ; 
There's nothing left to fancy's guess, 
You see that all is loneliness ; 
And silence adds, — though the steep hills 
Send to the lake a thousand rills. 
In summer tide so soft they weep, 
The sound but lulls the ear asleep ; 



308 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Your horses hoof- tread sounds too rude, 

So stilly is the solitude.'^ Marmion. 

Passing to the eastern extremity of the Lake, we 
come to Dryhope Tower, the birth-place of Mary 
Scott, the famous " Flower of Yarrow." Her lover, 
or husband, was slain by Scott of Tushielaw, from 
jealousy, or from a desire to secure her fortune, her 
father having promised to endow her with half his 
property. Seized by the imagination of the an- 
cient Minnesingers, this incident became the subject 
of a ballad, or ballads of great beauty and pathos, 
well known through Scotland, and frequently sung 
" amang her green braes." This has invested Yar- 
row with a deep poetical charm, and given rise to 
a great variety of sw^eet and pathetic strains, afford- 
ing a fine exemplification of the manner in which 
poetry grows, as by a natural law of progress. 
A single incident gathers around itself all beautiful 
images, all tender thoughts, feelings and passions, 
till the region in which it occurred becomes instinct 
with fantasy, and absolutely glows with a sort of 
conscious beauty. The very air is burdened with 
a melancholy charm. The stream meandering 
through the vale, and the winds whispering through 
the mountain glens or rippling the surface of St. 
Mary's lake, " murmur a music not their own." In 
a word, we have come from the real, every-day 
world, into one that is ideal, where, in the deep 
stillness of nature, the voices of the past reveal them- 
selves to the listening soul. In this view we know 
not a more interesting or instructive series of poems 
than those relating to Yarrow. The first is the 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 309 

ballad of the " Dowie Dens," or rather, " Downs of 
Yarrow." This is variously printed, but we give 
p. the version of Motherwell. 

There were three lords birling at the wine, 

On the Dowie Dens of Yarrow ; 
They made a compact them between, 

They would go fecht to-morrow. 

^' Thou took our sister to be thy wife, 

And thou ne'er thocht her thy marrow. 
Thou stealed her frae her daddy's back, 
When she was the Rose of Yarrow." 

^' Yes, I took your sister to be my wife, 
And I made her my marrow ; 
I stealed her frae her daddy's back, 
And she's still the Rose of Yarrow." 

He is hame to his lady gane, 

As he had done before, O ; 
Says, " Madam I must go and fecht, 

On the Dowie Downs o' Yarrow." 

" Stay at hame, my Lord,'^ she said, 
^' For that will breed much sorrow ; 
For my three brethren will slay thee, 
On the Dowie Downs o' Yarrow." 

" Hold your tongue, my lady fair ; 
For what needs a' this sorrow ? 
For I'll be hame gin' the clock strikes nine, 
From the Dowie Downs o' Yarrow." 

He wush his face, and she combed his hair, 

As she had done before, O ; 
She dressed him up in his armour clear. 

Sent him forth to fecht on Yarrow. 

^^ Come ye here to hawk or hound, 

Or drink the wine that's sae clear, O j 
Or come ye here to eat in your words, 
That you're not the Rose o' Yarrow ?" 



310 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

" I came not here to hawk or hound. 

Nor to drink the wine that's sae clear, O ; 
Nor came I here to eat in my words, 
For Pm still the Rose o' Yarrow." 

Then they all begud to fecht, 

I wad they focht richt sore, O ; 
Till a cowardly man cam' behind his back, 

And pierced his body thorough. 

^'Gae hame, gae hame, its my man John, 
As ye have done before, O : 
An tell it to my gaye ladye 

That I soundly sleep on Yarrow." 

His man John he has gane hame, 

As he had done before, O ; 
And told it to his gay ladye, 

That he soundly slept on Yarrow. 

" I dreamed a dream, now since the 'streen,* 
God keep us a' frae sorrow ! 
That my lord and I was pu'ing the heather green, 
From the Dowie Downs o' Yarrow." 

Sometimes she rode, sometimes she gade,t 

As she had done before, O ; 
And aye between she fell in a swoon, 

Lang or she cam' to Yarrow. 

Her hair it was five quarters lang, 

'Twas like the gold for yellow ; 
She twisted it round his milk white hand, 

And she's drawn him hame frae Yarrow. 

Out and spak her father dear, 
Savs, " What needs a' this sorrow ? 

For I'll get you a far better lord 
Than ever died on Yarrow." 

" O hold your tongue, father," she said, 
" For you've bred a' my sorrow ; 
For that rose '11 ne'er spring so sweet in May, 
As that Rose I lost on Yarrow !" 

* Yesternight. t Walked. 



r 



» 



I 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. ^ 311 

More than a century ago, William Hamilton, of 
Bangor, a gentleman of rank, education, and poet- 
ical talents, wrote the following exquisite ballad :* 

THE BRAES OF YARROW. 

Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny bride, 
Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow ! 

Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny bride, 
And think nae mair o' the Braes o' Yarrow. 

Whare gat ye that bonny, bonny bride ? 

Whare gat ye that winsome marrow ? 
I gat her where I darena weil be seen 

Pouing the birks on the Braes o^ Yarrow. 

Weep not, weep not, my bonny, bonny bride, 

Weep not, my winsome marrow ! 
Nor let thy heart lament to leave 

Pouing the birks on the Braes o' Yarrow. 

Lang maun she weep, lang maun she weep, 
Lang maun she weep with dule and sorrow, 

And lang maun I nae mair weil be seen, 
Pouing the birks on the Braes o' Yarrow. 

Why runs thy stream, O Yarrow, Yarrow, red ? 

Why on thy braes heard the voice o' sorrow ? 
And why yon melancholious weeds. 

Hung on the bonny birks o' Yarrow ? 

What's yonder floats on the rueful flude ? 

What's yonder floats, O dule and sorrow ! 
'Tis he, the comely swain I slew. 

Upon the duleful braes o' Yarrow. 

, "Wash, O wash his wounds in tears, 

His wounds in tears with dule and sorrow, 
And wrap his limbs in mourning weeds, 
And lay him on the Braes o' Yarrow. 

^ * # * ^ 

=* We quote only a portion of Hamilton's ballad. 



312 . GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Sweet smells the birk, green grows the grass. 

Yellow on Yarrow bank the gowan, 
Fair hangs the apple frae the rock, 

Sweet the wave of Yarrow flowan. 

Flows Yarrow sweet, as sweet flows Tweed, 
As green its grass, its gowan as yellow, 

As sweet smells on its braes the birk. 
The apple frae the rock as mellow. 

Busk ye, then busk, my bonny, bonny bride, 
Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow. 

Busk ye and lue me on the banks o' Tweed, 
And think nae mair on the Braes o' Yarrow. 

How can I busk a bonny, bonny bride, 
How can I busk a winsome marrow, 

How lue him on the banks o' Tweed 

That slew my love on the braes o' Yarrow ? 

O Yarrow fields, may never, never rain, 
Nor dew thy tender blossoms cover. 

For there was basely slain my love. 
My love, as he had not been a lover. 

The boy put on his robes o' green. 
His purple vest, 'twas my ain sewing 

Ah ! wretched me ! I little kenned 
He was in these to meet his ruin. 

The boy took out his milk-white steed, 
Unheedful of my dule and sorrow, 

But ere the to-fall of the night 

He lay a corpse on the Braes o' Yarrow. 

Much I rejoiced that waeful day ; 

I sang, my voice the woods returning, 
But lang ere night the spear was flown. 

That slew my love, and left me mourning. 

* =^ # * # 

Yes, yes, prepare the bed of love. 
With bridal sheets my body cover, 

Unbar, ye bridal maids, the door, 
Let in the expected husband lover 



If 



I 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 313 

But who the expected husband is ? 

His hands, methinks, are bathed in slaughter. 
Ah me ! what ghastly spectre^s yon, 

Comes in his pale shroud, bleeding after ? 

Pale as he is, here lay him down, 

O lay his cold head on my pillow j 
Take off, take off these bridal weeds. 

And crown my careful head with willow. 



Return, return, O mournful bride, 

Return and dry thy useless sorrow -, 
Thy lover heeds naught of thy sighs. 

He lies a corpse on the Braes o' Yarrow. 

Somewhat more than half a century later, Lo- 
gan wrote a song with the same title, of which 
the following are the concluding stanzas, 

" Sweet were his words when last we met j 

My passion I as freely told him ; 
Clasped in his arms I little thought 

That I should never more behold him ! 
Scarce was I gone, I saw his ghost ; 

It vanished with a shriek of sorrow ; 
Thrice did the water wraith ascend 

And gave a doleful groan through Yarrow. 

^' His mother from the window looked 

With all the longing of a mother : 
His little sister weeping walk'd 

The green wood path to meet her brother : 
They sought him East, they sought him West, 

They sought him all the forest thorough ; 
They only saw the cloud of night, 

They only heard the roar of Yarrow ! 

" No longer from thy window look, 

Thou hast no son, O tender mother ! 
No longer walk, thou lovely maid ! 
Alas ! thou hast no more a brother I 
27 



314 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

No longer seek hiin East or West, 

And search no more the forest thoro' ; 
For wandering in the night so dark, 

He fell a lifeless corpse in Yarrow. 

*• The tear shall never leave my cheek, 

No other youth shall be my marrow ; 
ni seek thy body in the stream, 

And then with thee FU sleep in Yarrow.'' 
The tear did never leave her cheek, 

No other youth became her marrow ; 
She found his body in the stream, 

And now with him she sleeps in Yarrow. 

We are now prepared to read Wordsworth's 
two exquisite poems, " Yarrow Unvisited," and 
" Yarrow Visited," the splendid flowering, so to 
speak, of this poetical growth. 

From Stirling Castle we had seen 

The mazy Forth unravelled ; 
Had trod the banks of Clyde and Tay, 

And with the Tweed had travelled j 
And when we came to Clovenford, 

Then said ^ my winsome Marrow j' 
" Whate'er betide, we'll turn aside, 

And see the braes o' Yarrow." 

" Let Yarrow folk frae Selkirk Town, 

Who have been buying, selling, 
Go back to Yarrow, 'tis their own ; 

Each maiden to her dwelling ! 
On Yarrow's banks let herons feed, 

Hares couch and rabbits burrow ! 
But we will downward with the Tweed, 

Nor turn aside to Yarrow. 

" There's Galla Water, Leader Haughs, 
Both lying right before us ; 
And Dryborough where with chiming Tweed 
The Lintwhites sing in chorus ; 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 315 

There's pleasant Tivoitdale, a land 

Made blithe with plough and harrow, 
Why throw away a needful day 

To go in search of Yarrow 1 

^^ What's Yarrow but a river bare, 

That glides the dark hills under ? 
There are a thousand such elsewhere 

As worthy of your wonder." 
— Strange words they seemed of slight and scorn ; 

My true love sigh'd for sorrow ; 
And looked me in the fkce to think 

I thus could speak of Yarrow ! 

*• Oh green, said I, are Yarrow Holms 

And sweet is ' Yarrow flowing !' 
Fair hangs the apple frae the rock, 

But we will leave it growing. 
O'er hilly path and open Strath, 

We'll wander Scotland thorough ; 
But though so near we will not turn 

Into the Dale of Yarrow. 

" Let beeves and home-bred kine partake 

The sweets of Burnmill meadow ; 
The swan, on still St. Mary's Lake, 

Float double, swan and shadow ! 
We will not see them ; will not go, 

To-day, nor yet to-morrow ; 
Enough if in our hearts we know 

There's such a place as Yarrow. 



" Be Yarrow stream unseen, unknown ! 
It must, or we shall rue it ; 
We have a vision of our own : 



Ah ! why should we undo it ? 
The treasured dreams of times long past, 

We'll keep them ' winsome Marrow !' 
For when we're there, although tis fair, 

'Twill be another Yarrow ! 

" If care with freezing years should come, 
And wandering seem but folly, — 



316 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Should we be loth to stir from home, 

And yet be melancholy ; 
Should life be dull, and spirits low. 

'Twill soothe us in our sorrow, 
That earth has something yet to show. 

The bonny Holms of Yarrow.'' 

This is beautiful, but the following is more so. 
Indeed it is the very perfection of descriptive 
poetry. 

YARROW VISITED. 

And is this — Yarrow ? — This the stream 

Of which my fancy cherished 
So faithfully a waking dream ? 

An image that has perished ! 
O that some minstrel's harp were near, 

To utter notes of gladness, 
And chase this silence from the air. 

That fills my heart with sadness ' 

Yet why ? — a silvery current flows 

With uncontrolled meanderings ; 
Nor have these eyes by greener hills 

Been soothed in all my wanderings. 
And, through her depths, St. Mary's Lake 

Is visibly delighted ; 
For not a feature of those hills 

Is in the mirror slighted. 

A blue sky bends o'er Yarrow Vale, 

Save where that pearly whiteness 
Is round the rising sun diffused, 

A tender hazy brightness ; 
Mild dawn of promise ! that excludes 

All profitless dejection ; 
Though not unwilling here to admit 

A pensive recollection. 

Where was it that the famous Flower 
Of Yarrow Vale lay bleeding ? 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 317 

His bed perchance was yon smooth mound 

On which the herd is feeding : 
And haply from this crystal pool, 

Now peaceful as the morning, 
The Water Wraith ascended thrice, 

And gave his doleful warning. 

Delicious is the lay that sings 

The haunts of happy lovers, 
The path that leads them to the grove, 

The leafy grove that covers ; 
And Pity sanctifies the verse 

That points, by strength of sorrow, 
The unconquerable strength of love ; 

Bear witness rueful Yarrow ! 

But thou, that didst appear so fair 

To fond imagination. 
Dost rival in the light of day 

Her delicate creation : 
Meek loveliness is round thee spread, 

A softness still and holy ; 
The grace of forest charms decayed. 

And pastoral melancholy. 

That region left, the Vale unfolds 

Rich groves of lofty stature, 
With Yarrow winding through the pomp 

Of cultivated nature ; 
And rising from those lofty groves. 

Behold a ruin hoary ! 
The shattered front of Newark's towers 

Renowned in Border story. 

Fair scenes for childhood's opening bloom, 

For sportive youth to stray in. 
For manhood to enjoy his strength : 

And age to wear away in ! 
Yon cottage seems a bower of bliss, 

A covert for protection 
Of tender thoughts that nestle there, 

The brood of chaste affection. 
27^ 



318 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

How sweet on this autumnal day, 

The wild wood fruits to gather, 
And on my True-love's forehead plant 

A crest of blooming heather ! 
And what if I en wreathed my own ! 

'Twere no offence to reason ; 
The sober hills thus deck their brows 

To meet the wintry season. 

I see, but not by sight alone, 

Loved Yarrow, have I won thee j 
A ray of Fancy still survives — 

Her sunshine plays upon thee ! 
Thy ever youthful waters keep 

A course of lively pleasure ; 
And gladsome notes my lips can breathe, 

Accordant to the measure. 

The vapors linger round the Heights, 

They melt, — and soon must vanish ; 
One hour is their's, nor more is mine — 

Sad thought, which I would banish. 
But that I know, where'er I go. 

Thy genuine image, Yarrow ! 
Will dwell with me, to heighten joy. 

And cheer my mind in sorrow. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Hamlet and Church-yard of Ettrick — Monument to Thomas Bos- 
ton — Birth-place of the Ettrick Shepherd — Altrieve Cottage — 
Biographical Sketch of the Ettrick Shepherd— The Town of 
Selkirk— Monument to Sir Walter Scott— Battle-field of Philip- 
haugh. 

Proceeding westward from St. Mary's Lake 
about half a mile, we come to the hill of Mere- 
cleughhead, where King James the Fifth entered 
the district to inflict summary vengeance upon the 
outlaws who frequented the Ettrick Forest in the 
days of old, a circumstance which gave rise to 
many of the old Scottish ballads. At the centre 
of the parish lie the hamlet and church-yard of 
Ettrick, on the stream of that name. Entering the 
burying-ground we behold the recently erected 
tomb of Thomas Boston, author of the well known 
work called " The Fourfold State," one of the best 
and holiest men that ever " hallowed" the " bushy 
dells" of Ettrick. With apostolic fervor did he 
preach the Gospel among these hills and vales, and 
his work, for more than three generations, has in- 
structed the Scottish peasantry in the high doc- 
trines of the Christian faith. His memory will 
ever be fragrant among the churches of Scotland. 
Not far from the burying-ground a house is pointed 
out in which the celebrated " Ettrick Sepherd" was 
bom. Passing to the east end of the lake we see 



I 



320 GENIUS OP SCOTLAND. 

before us Altrieve Cottage, " bosomed low mid 
tufted trees," and nearly encircled bj^ the " sweet 
burnie," in whose limpid waters the green foliage 
is mirrored. Here the poet lived, in the latter 
period of his life, and here also he died. The 
scenes around, moor, mountain and glen, lake, 
river and ruin, are hallowed by the genius of the 
" shepherd bard," who, to quote his own words, 

" Found in youth a harp among the hills, 
Dropt by the Elfin people ; and whilst the moon 
Entranced, hung o'er still Saint Mary's loch, 
Harped by that charmed water, so that the swan 
Came floating onwards through the water blue, — 
A dream-like creature, listening to a dream j 
And the queen of the fairies rising silently 
Through the pure mist, stood at the shepherd's feet, 
And half forgot her own green paradise, 
Far in the bosom of the hill — so wild ! 
So sweet ! so sad ! flowed forth that shepherd's lay." 

James Hogg, born in 1772, was descended from 
a family of shepherds, and spent his boyhood and 
youth herding his flocks among the hills. Far 
from the bustle of the world, in the deep solitudes 
of nature, his young and vigorous imagination be- 
came familiar with all wild and beautiful sights, all 
sweet and solemn sounds. Alone with nature 
during the day, he spent his evening hours in lis- 
tening to ancient ballads and legends, of which his 
mother was a great reciter. This fed his imagina- 
tion, and supplied it with an infinite variety of 
strange and beautiful imagery. To this fact he 
has himself thus strikingly referred. 



p 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 321 

" O list the mystic lore sublime, 
Of fairy tales of ancient time I 
I learned them in the lonely glen, 
The last abodes of living men ; 
Where never stranger came our way, 
By summer night or winter day ; 
Where neighboring hind or cot was none — 
Our converse was with heaven alone — 
With voices through the cloud that sung 
And brooding storms that round us hung. 
O lady judge, if judge ye may. 
How stern and ample was the sway 
Of themes like these, when darkness fell 
And gray-haired sires the tales would tell ! 
When doors were barred and elder dame* 
Plied at her task beside the flame. 
That through the smoke and gloom alone 
On dim and cumbered faces shone — 
The bleat of mountain goat on high, 
That from the cliff came quavering by ; 
The echoing rock, the rushing flood. 
The cataract's swell, the moaning wood ; 
The undefined and mingled hum — 
Voice of the desert never dumb ! 
All these have left within this heart 
A feeling tongue can ne-er impart 
A wildered and unearthly flame, 
A something that's without a name." 

Another circumstance in the early life of Hogg 
tended to nurse his fancy. He had, in all, some- 
thing like six months' schooling, and having entered 
the service of Mr. Laidlaw, another great lover of 
legends, songs and stories of the olden time, he sub- 
scribed to a circulating library at Peebles, v^hose 
diversified contents he devoured within a short 
time. He read poetry, romances and tales w^ith 
avidity, and stored his mind with traditionary bal- 



322 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

lads, songs and stories. This circumstance will 
account for his wayward, changeable life, as well 
as for the wildness and strength of his imagination. 
In the field of reality he was nothing, in that of 
fancy everything. 

He is said to have been a remarkably fine-look- 
ing young man, having a florid complexion, and a 
profusion of light brown hair, which he wore, coiled 
up, beneath his " blithe blue bonnet." An attack 
of illness induced by over-exertion, on a hot sum- 
mer's day, so completely altered his appearance, 
that his friends scarcely recognized him as the 
same person. Of a jovial and merry disposition, 
he was a great favorite in all companies, and at 
times partook too freely of " the mountain dew." 

Being introduced by the son of his employer to 
Sir Walter Scott, the Ettrick Shepherd assisted 
him in the collection of old ballads for the "Border 
Minstrelsy." He soon began to try his own hand 
in imitation of these traditionary poems, and pub- 
lished a volume of ballads, which attracted some 
attention, but never became very popular. Having 
embarked in sheep farming, and attempted one or 
two speculations in which he failed utterly, he re- 
solved to repair to the city of Edinburgh, and sup- 
port himself by his pen. " The Forest Minstrel," a 
collection of songs, was his first publication here ; 
his second, " The Spy," a light periodical, which 
enjoyed a brief and precarious existence. It was 
not till the publication, in 1813, of his principal 
poetical production, " The Queen's Wake," that his 
reputation as a poet was firmly established. The 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 328 

plan was so simple and striking, and the execution 
so vigorous and delightful, that it " took" at once, and 
became universally popular. The old " Wake" or 
festival in Scotland was ordinarily celebrated with 
various kinds of diversions, among w^hich music 
and song held the principal place. The " Queen's 
Wake" consists of a collection of tales and ballads 
supposed to be sung by different bards to the young 
Queen of Scotland, — 

" When royal Mary, blithe of mood, 
Kept holyday at Holyrood.'' 

The various productions of the minstrels are 
strung together by a thread of light and graceful 
narrative. The " Wake" lasts three successive 
nights, and a richly ornamented harp is the victor's 
reward. Rizzio is among the number of the com- 
petitors ; but Gardyne, a native bard, obtains the 
prize. The plan supplies the Ettrick Shepherd 
with an opportunity of displaying the extreme 
facility with which he could adapt himself to all 
kinds of style, a facility so great that he subse- 
quently pubUshed, under the title of " The Mirror 
of the Poets," a collection of poems ascribed by 
him to Byron, Campbell, Scott, Southey, Crabbe, 
Wordsworth and others, in which the deception is 
so admirable, that multitudes actually supposed 
them genuine productions. Conscious of his 
strength, he breaks forth in the " Queen's Wake," 
in the following exulting strains. 

" The land was charmed to list his lays ; 
It knew the harp of ancient days. 



324 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

The border chiefs that long had been 
In sepulchres unhearsed and green, 
Passed from their mouldy vaults away 
In armor red. and stern array, 
And by their moonlight halls were seen 
In visor, helm, and habergeon. 
Even fairies sought our land again, 
So powerful was the magic strain." 

. Scott had advised him to abandon poetry, as 
" a bootless task," a circumstance to which he thus 
refers : 

^- Blest be his generous heart for aye I 
He told me where the relic lay ; 
Pointed my way with ready will, 
Afar on Ettrick's wildest hill ; 
Watched my first notes with curious eye ; 
And wondered at my minstrelsy : 
He little weened a parent's tongue 
Such strains had o'er my cradle sung. 

^' But when to native feelings true 
I struck upon a chord was new ; 
When by myself I *gan to play. 
He tried to wile my harp away. 
Just when her notes began with skill 
To sound beneath the southern hill, 
And twine around my bosom's core, 
How could we part forevermore ? 
'Twas kindness all — I cannot blame — 
For bootless is the minstrel's flame : 
But sure a bard might well have known 
Another's feelings by his own !" 

Scott, it is said, was grieved at this reference to 
his friendly counsel given at a time when he knew 
not the powers of Hogg. This, however, illus- 
trates a fact often occurring in the history of ge- 
nius, which often struggles hard to develop itself, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 325 

alone conscious of its native powers. When Sher- 
idan first spoke in the house of commons he made 
an utter failure. But instead of being discouraged, 
he remarked with energy, " I know that it is in me, 
and I must have it out !" Campbell offered his 
" Pleasures of Hope" to nearly all the book pub- 
Hshers in Scotland, who refused it. Not one of 
them could be prevailed upon even to risk paper 
and ink upon the chance of its success ; and at last, 
it was only with considerable reluctance that Mun- 
dell & Son, printers to the University, undertook 
its publication, with the liberal condition that the 
author should be allowed fifty copies at the trade 
price, and in the event of its reaching a sep ond 
edition, a thing hardly anticipated, that he should 
receive the immense sum of fifty dollars ! 

The Ettrick Shepherd continued for a number 
of years to publish sketches, stories, and so forth, 
in prose and verse. He describes well, and in his 
prose compositions often breaks out into flashes of 
keen broad humor, but he is not particularly suc- 
cessful in the construction of plots, or in the ar- 
rangement of incidents. He is most at home in 
the regions of pure fancy. The moment he sets 
foot in fairyland he becomes inspired, and pours 
out "in delightful profusion" his beautiful imaginings. 
Inferior to Burns in depth of passion, in keen per- 
ception of the beautiful, and in the description of 
actual scenes, he is perhaps superior to him in the 
wild delicacy of his inventions and in the rich 
coloring of his imaginative pictures. Burns was 
the poet of nature, and went far beyond his Scot- 

28 



S36 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

tish contemporaries and successors, in strength of 
conception, beauty of imagery, intensity of feeling, 
and melody of verse. But Hogg excelled in ima- 
ginative musing, and became, by natural right, the 
acknowledged " bard of fairy-land." His legend of 
" Bonny Kilmeny" has been universally admired. 

Bonny Kilmeny gaed up the glen, 

But it was na to meet Duneira's men ; 

Nor the rosy monk of the isle to see, 

For Kilmeny was pure as pure could be. 

It was only to hear the yorlin sing, 

And pu' the cress flower round the spring ; 

The scarlet hypp and the hind berrye. 

And the nut that hung frae the hazel tree j 

But Kilmeny was pure as pure could be. 

But lang may her minny* look o'er the wa', 

And lang may she seek i' the greenwood shaw ; 

Lang the laird of Duneira blame, 

And lang, lang greet or Kilmeny come heme ! 

When many a day had come and fled, 

When grief grew calm, and hope was dead, 

When mass for Kilmeny's soul had been sung. 

When the beads-man had prayed, and the dead-bell rung, 

Late, late in a gloamin, when all was still. 

When the fringe was red on the western hill, 

The wood was sere, the moon i' the wane. 

The reek o' the cot hung over the plain, 

Like a little wee cloud in the world its lane ;t 

When the ingle lowedj with an eiry§ leme. 

Late, late in the gloamin, Kilmeny came hame ! 

Kilmeny, Kilmeny, where have you been ? 
Lang hae we sought baith holt and dean,|| 
By linn, by ford and greenwood tree, 
Yet you are halesome and fair to see. 

* Mother, f Alone. J Blazed. 

§ Lonesome flame. |1 Hollow and den. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 327 

"Where gat you that joup* o' the lily scheen ? 
That bonny snookt o' the birk sae green ? 
And these roses, the fairest that ever were seen? 
Kilmenyj Kilmeny, where have you been 1 

Kilmeny looked up wi' a lovely grace, 
But nae smile was seen on Kilmeny^s face ; 
As still was her look, and as still was her ee, 
As the stillness that lay on the emerant lea, 
Or the mist that sleeps on a waveless sea. 

For Kilmeny had been she knew not where. 

And Kilmeny had seen what she could not declare ; 

Kilmeny had been where the cock never crew, 

Where the rain never fell, and the wind never blew j 

But it seemed as the harp of the sky had rung, 

And the airs of heaven played round her tongue, 

When she spake of the lovely forms she had seen, 

And a land where sin had never been, 

A land of love and a land of light, 

Withouten sun, or moon, or night ; 

Where the river swa'd| a living stream, 

And the light a pure celestial beam : 

The land of vision it would seem, 

A still, an everlasting dream. 

In yon greenwood there is a walk, 

And in that walk there is a wene. 

And in that wene there is a maike,§ 

That neither hath flesh, blood nor bane. 

And down in yon greenwood he walks his lane ! 

In that grene wene Kilmeny lay 

Her bosom happed wi' the flowrets gay ; 

And the air was soft, and the silence deep, 

And bonny Kilmeny fell sound asleep ; 

She kenn'd nae mair, nor opened her ee. 

Till waked by the hymns of a far countrye, 



♦ Ornament. t Snood or headband. J Swelled or swept. 
§ Briefly the meaning is, that in the greenwood there is a 
sweet lonely place where a spritual being wanders alone. 



328 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

She wakened on couch of the si]k sae slim 



All striped wi' the bars of the rainbow^s rim ; 

And lovely beings around her were rife, 

Who erst had travelled mortal life. 

They clasped her waist and her hands sae fair, 

They kissed her cheek, and they kamed her hair, 

And round came many a blooming fere, 

Saying, " Bonny Kilmeny, ye're welcome here." 

# ^ ^ ^ ^ 

They lifted Kilmeny, they led her away, 
And she walked in the light of a sunless day, 
The sky was a dome of crystal bright, 
The fountain of vision, and fountain of light ; 
The emerant fields were of dazzling glow, 
And the flowers of everlasting blow. 
Then deep in the stream her body they laid, 
That her youth and beauty might never fade ; 
And they smiled on heaven, when they saw her lie 
In the stream of life that wandered by ; 
And she heard a song, she heard it sung. 
She kenn'd not where, but so sweetly it rung, 
It fell on her ears like a dream of the morn : 
" O, blest be the day Kilmeny was born ! 
Now shall the land of spirits see, 
Now shall it ken what a woman may be ! 
The sun that shines on the world so bright, 
A borrowed gleam from the fountain of ]ight : 
And the moon that sleeks the sky sae dun, 
Like a gowden bow, or a beamless sun, - 
Shall skulk away, and be seen nae mair. 
And the angels shall miss them travelling the air. 
Bat lang, lang after both night and day. 
When the sun and the world have ^eelged* away, 
When the sinner has gane to his waesome doom, 
Kilmeny shall smile in eternal bloom V^ 

They sooftf her away to a mountain green, 
To see what mortal had never seen ; 

=* Vanished, f Swept or spirited away, with a rapid motion. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 329 

And they seated her high on a purple sward, 

And bade her heed what she saw and heard ; 

And note the changes the spirits wrought, 

For now she lived in the land of thought. 

She looked and she saw no sun nor skies, 

But a crystal dome of a thousand dyes. 

She looked and she saw no lang aright, 

But an endless whirl of glory and light. 

And radiant beings went and came, 

Far swifter than wind, or the linked flame ; 

She hid her een from the dazzling view, 

She looked again, and the scene was new. 

She saw a sun on a simmer sky. 

And clouds of amber sailing by ; 

A lovely land aneath her lay. 

And that land had lakes and niountains gray ; 

And that land had valleys and hoary piles. 

And merlit seas, and a thousand isles ; 

She saw the corn wave on the vale ; 

She saw the deer run down the dale ; 

And many a mortal toiling sore, 

And she thought she had seen the land afore. 

# :^ =K= # # 

To sing of the sights Kilmeiiy saw. 
So far surpassing nature's law. 
The singers voice would sink away, 
And the string of his harp would cease to play, 
But she saw while the sorrows of man were by, 
And all was love and harmony ; 
While the sterns of heaven fell lonely away, 
Like the flakes of snow on a winter's day. 

Then Kilmeny begged again to see 

The friends she had left in her ain countrye. 

To tell of the place where she had been, 

And the glories that lay in the land unseen. 

With distant music soft and deep, 

They lulled Kilmeny sound asleep ; 

And when she awakened, she lay her lane. 

All happed with flowers in the greenwood wene 

28* 



330 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

When seven lang years had come and fled, 

When grief was calm and hope was dead, 

When scarce was remembered Kilmeny's name^ 

Late, late in the gloamin Kilmeny came hame ! 

And oh ! her beauty was fair to see. 

But still and steadfast was her eej 

Such beauty bard may never declare, 

For there was no pride nor passion there ; 

And the soft desire of maiden's een. 

In that mild face could never be seen. 

Her seyman was the lily flower. 

And her cheek the moss-rose in the shower j 

And her voice like the distant melodye, 

That floats along the twilight sea. 

But she loved to range the lanely glen, 

And keeped afar frae the haunts of men. 

Her holy hymns unheard to sing, 

To suck the flowers and drink the spring ; 

But wherever her peaceful form appeared, 

The wild beasts of the hill were cheered j 

The wolf played blithely round the field, 

The lordly bison lowed and kneeled, 

The dun deer wooed with manner bland, 

And cowered aneath hor lily hand. 

And when at eve the woodlands rung, 

When hymns of other worlds she sung, 

In ecstacy of sweet devotion, 

Oh, then the glen was all in motion ; 

The wild beasts of the forest came, 

Broke from their bughts and faulds the tame. 

And gooed around, charmed and amazed ; 

Even the dull cattle crooned and gazed, 

And murmured and looked with anxious pain 

For something the mystery to explain. 

The buzzard came with the throstle cock j 

The corby left her houf in the rock ; 

The blackbird along with the eagle flew ; 

The hind came tripping o'er the dew ; 

The wolf and the kid their raike began, 

And the tod, and the lamb, and the leveret ran j 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 331 

The hawk and the hern attour them hung, 

And the merl and the mavis forhooyed"* their young ; 

And all in a peaceful ring were hurled : 

It was like an eve in a sinless world ! 

When a month and a day had come and gane, 

Kilmeny sought the greenwood wene, 

There laid her down on the leaves so green. 

And Kilmeny, on earth was never mair seen ! 

The close of " The Queen's Wake" is graceful 
and touching. 

Now my loved harp a while farewell ; 

I leave thee on the old gray thorn ; 
The evening dews will mar thy sv^ell 

That waked to joy the cheerful morn. 

Farewell, sweet soother of my woe, 
Chill blows the blast around my head ; 

And louder yet that blast may blow, 
When down this weary vale Tve sped. 

The wreath lies on St. Mary's shore j 
The mountain sounds are harsh and loud *, 

The lofty brows of stern Clokmore 
Are visored with the moving cloud. 

But winter's deadly hues shall fade 
On moorland bald and mountain shaw, 

And soon the rainbow's lovely shade 
Sleep on the breast of Bowerhope Law ; 

Then will the glowing suns of spring, 

The genial shower and stealing dew, 
Wake every forest bird to sing, 

And every mountain flower renew. 

But not the rainbow's ample ring, 
That spans the glen and mountain gray 
i Though fanned by western breeze's wing, 

And sunned by summer's glowing ray, 

* Forsook. 



332 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

To man decayed can ever more 

Renew the age of love and glee ! 
Can ever second spring restore 

To my old mountain harp and me. 

But when the hue of softened spring 

Spreads over hill and lonely lea, 
And lowly primrose opes unseen, 

Her virgin bosom to the bee ; 

When hawthorns breathe their odors far, 

And carols hail the year's return. 
And daisy spreads her silver star 

Unheeded, by the mountain burn, 

Then will I seek the aged thorn, 

The haunted wild and fairy ring, 
Where oft thy erring numbers borne. 

Have taught the wandering winds to sing. 

Hogg was unfortunate in all business transac- 
tions. But the Duchess of Buccleugh made him a 
present of some seventy acres of moorland, on 
which he built a pretty cottage. Here he lived 
during the latter years of his life, engaged in Hte- 
rary labors, which he reheved by angling and field 
sports, for which he had quite a passion. When 
he could no longer fish and hunt, he avowed his 
belief that his death was near. He was seized 
with a dropsical complaint in the autumn of 1835, 
and died, after some days of insensibility, " with as 
little pain as he ever fell asleep in his gray plaid 
upon the hillside." With many imperfections, he 
possessed a leal Scottish heart, and has left behind 
him memorials of genius, which posterity will not 
" let die." 

But we have arrived at the ancient town of Sel- 
kirk, on the Ettrick, famous for its * sutors' or shoe- 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 333 

makers, from time immemorial burgesses of the 
town, and distinguished for their loyahy. In the 
market-square are a pubUc well, ornamented with 
the arms of the city, and a handsome monument 
erected by the county, in 1839, in memory of Sir 
Walter Scott, who was sheriff of the county from 
1800 to 1832. On one of its sides are the follow- 
ing lines from one of his poems : 

'^ By Yarrow's stream still let me stray, 
Though none should guide my feeble way, 
Still feel the breeze down Ettrick break, 
Although it chill my withered cheek.'' 

In the immediate neighborhood of Selkirk is 
Phihphaugh, the celebrated battle-field, where Gen- 
eral Leslie, fighting for freedom and the Covenant, 
routed the fierce Montrose, who cut his way 
through the enemy and fled for his life. This de- 
feat destroyed the fruit of Montrose's six splendid 
victories, and ruined the royal cause in Scotland. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Return to the banks of the Tweed— Abbotsford—The Study- 
Biographical Sketch of Sir Walter Scott — His Early life— Re- 
sidence in the Country — Spirit of Romance — Education — 
First Efforts as an Author — Success of ^ Marmion' — Character 
of his Poetry — Literary Change — His Novels — Pecuniary 
Difficulties — Astonishing Efforts — Last Sickness — Death and 
Funeral. 

Leaving the Ettrick, we proceed once more in 
the direction of the Tweed, which we soon reach. 
How sweetly the river winds through this wooded 
region — quick and even impetuous in its flow, but 
so translucent that the white pebbles at the bottom 
are distinctly visible. What a picture of peaceful 
enjoyment is presented by that shepherd boy, lean- 
ing against the rock, and basking himself in the 
sun, while his sheep are nibbling the short grass on 
the edge of the water. But yonder is Abbotsford, 
with its castellated walls and pointed gables, shoot- 
ing up from a sylvan declivity on the banks of the 
river, which almost encircles the place with a 
graceful sweep, and contrasts beautifully with the 
deep-green foliage of the straggling clumps of 
trees. But every traveller in Scotland visits Ab- 
botsford, and therefore we say nothing about its sin- 
gular construction, its curious ornaments, its ancient 
rehcs, its broad-swords and battle-axes, its coats ar- 
morial, oak carvings and blazoned windows, its old 



GENIUS OF SCOrLANV. 335 

portraits and fine library. We will not describe the 
door taken from the old Tolbooth in Edinburgh, 
nor the pulpit from which Ralph Erskine preached ; 
nay more, we shall not even moralize on "the 
broad-skirted blue coat, with metal buttons, the 
plaid trowsers, heavy shoes, broad-brimmed hat 
and stout walking stick," the last worn by " the 
Great Magician of the north," when he took to his 
bed in his last illness. We will pass, however, 
into his study, a room about twenty-five feet square, 
containing a small writing table in the centre, on 
which Sir Walter was accustomed to write, and a 
plain arm-chair, covered with black leather, on 
which he sat. A subdued light enters from a 
single window, and a few books lie on the shelves, 
used chiefly for reference. By the pemaission of 
the good lady who has charge of the house, we are 
permitted to seat ourselves, and linger here for an 
hour, calling up the memory of the most wonderful 
genius that Scotland has ever produced. 

The father of Sir Walter Scott was a writer to 
the Signet in Edinburgh, an excellent and highly 
respectable man. His mother, Anne Rutherford, 
a noble and gentle-hearted woman, was the daugh- 
ter of a physician, in extensive practice, and Pro- 
fessor of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. 
By both parents he was remotely connected with 
some ancient and respectable Scottish families, a 
circumstance to which he frequently referred with 
satisfaction. He was born on the 15th of August, 
in the year 1771. In consequence of lameness and 
a delicate state of health, produced by a fall, ho 



336 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

was sent, in early life to Sandyknowe, a romantic 
situation near Kelso, and placed under the care of 
his grandfather. Here he fortified his constitution 
by long rambles on foot and on horseback among 
the picturesque scenery and old ruins of the neigh- 
borhood. Smallholm, a ruined tower, and the 
scene of Scott's ballad, " The Eve of St. John's," 
was close to the farm, and beside it were the Eil- 
don Hills, the ruins of Ercildoune, the residence, in 
ancient times, of Thomas the Rhymer, Dryburgh 
Abbey, the " silver Tweed," with its storied banks, 
and other localities renowned in song and story. 
It was here also that he delighted in supplying his 
memory with the tales of his nurse, and some old 
grandames, deeply versed in the traditions of the 
country. All these left indelible impressions on 
his young imagination, and nursed the latent germ 
of poetry and romance, so late, but so beautiful in 
its flowering. Subsequently he resided with an- 
other relation at Kelso. Here, under the shadow 
of a great platanus or oriental palm tree, in an old 
garden, he devoured " Percy's Reliques of Ancient 
Poetry," and permitted his fancy to wander at will 
amid the scenes of Border romance. This ex- 
plains, in some degree, the peculiar characteristics 
of his first poems, and that fine strain of romantic 
feeling which runs through his tales. Speaking of 
this matter, he says himself: "In early youth I had 
been an eager student of ballad poetry, and the 
tree is still in my recollection beneath which I lay 
and first entered upon the enchanting perusal of 
* Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry,' although it 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 337 

has long perished in the general blight which af- 
fected the whole race of oriental platanus, to which 
it belonged. The taste of another person had 
strongly encouraged my own researches into this 
species of legendary lore. But I had never 
dreamed of an attempt to imitate what gave me so 
much pleasure. Excepting the usual tribute to a 
mistress's eyebrow, which is the language of pas- 
sion rather than poetry, I had not for ten years in- 
dulged the wish to couple so much as love and dove, 
when finding Lewis in possession of so much repu- 
tation, and conceiving that, if I fell behind him in 
poetical powers, I considerably exceeded him in 
general information, I suddenly took it into my 
head to attempt the style by which he had raised 
himself to fame." He refers to the same thing in 
the following lines : 

^'' Thus, while I ape the measure wild, 
Of tales that charmed me — yet a child, 
Rude though they be, still with the chime 
Return the thoughts of early time : 
And feelings roused in life's first day, 
Glow in the line, and prompt the lay ; 
Then rise those crags, that mountain tower, 
Which charmed my fancy's wakening hour. 
Though no broad river swept along, 
To claim perchance heroic song ; 
Though sigh no groves in summer gale, 
To prompt of love a softer tale, 
Yet was poetic impulse given 
By the green hill and clear blue heaven. 
It was a barren scene, and wild, 
Where naked cliffs were rudely piled, 
But ever and anon between 
Lay velvet tufts of loveliest green ; 
29 



338 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

And well the lovely infant knew 

Recesses where the wall-flower grew. 

And honey-suckle loved to crawl 

Up the low crag and ruined wall. 

I deemed such nooks the sweetest shade 

The sun in all its round surveyed ; 

And still I thought that shattered tower 

The mightiest work of human power ; 

And marvelled as the aged hind, 

With some strange tale bewitched my mind, 

Of foragers who, with headlong force 

Down from that strength had spurred their horse. 

Their southern rapine to renew 

Far in the distant Cheviot^s blue, 

And home returning filled the hall, 

With revel, wassail-route and brawl. — 

Methought that still with tramp and clang 

The gateway^s broken arches rang ; 

Methought grim features seamed with scars, 

Glared through the window's rusty bars. 

And even by the winter hearth ; 

Old tales I heard of woe or mirth, 

Of lovers' sleights, of Jadies' charms, 

Of witches' spells, of warriors' arms ; 

Of patriot battles won of old 

By Wallace wight and Bruce the bold ; 

Of later fields of feud and fight. 

When pouring from their Highland height, 

The Scottish clans in headlong sway, 

Had swept the scarlet ranks away. 

While stretched at length upon the floor, 

Again I fought each combat e'er, 

Pebbles and shells in order laid 

The mimic ranks of war displayed ; 

And onward still the Scottish lion bore, 

And still the scattered Southron fled before. 

In addition to this, young Scott was a perfect 
helluo lihrorum. He had access to a large hbrary 
filled with romances, histories, biographies, and so 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 339 

forth, which he indiscriminately devoured. His 
memory was quick and tenacious, and his mind be- 
came stored with all sorts of facts, fables and fancies. 
Still, even in youth, he possessed a sound judgment, 
a clear, well balanced mind, and separated the 
chaff from the wheat with tolerable discrimination. 
His father was a good Presbyterian, and did what 
he could to imbue his mind with religious princi- 
ples, which never deserted him. Among the first 
lines he is known to have written are the following. 
They were found wrapped up in a paper inscribed 
by Dr. Adam of the Edinburgh High School, 
* Walter Scott, July, 1783.' 

ON THE SETTING SUN. 

Those evening clouds, that setting ray, 
And beauteous tints, serve to display 

Their great Creator's praise ; 
Then let the short-lived thing called man, 
Whose life's comprised within a span, 

To Him his homage raise. 

We often praise the evening clouds, 

And tints so gay and bold, 
But seldom think upon our God, 

Who tinged these clouds with gold. 

Scott was educated at the Edinburgh High 
School, and University. He had an aversion to 
Greek, a singular fact, but made some proficiency in 
Latin, moral philosophy and history. He also made 
himself tolerably familiar with the French, German 
and Italian tongues. Being much at home, he in- 
dulged in reading romances and poetry. From 
early life, he was an industrious collector of old bal- 



340 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

lads, many of which he committed to memory. Ap- 
prenticed to his father, as " a writer," he com- 
menced the study of law, and began to practice in 
his twenty-first year. As his health was now vig- 
orous, he made long excursions into the country, 
which he facetiously denominated raids, rambling 
over scenes of external beauty or of historic interest, 
making acquaintance with the country people, and 
picking up information about men and things. By 
this means he amassed an immense store of every- 
day facts, and an intimate knowledge of character, 
w^hich were of immense service to him in the con- 
struction of his novels. 

Scott's first appearance as an author was in the 
translation from the German of Burger's Leonore, 
and " Der Wilde Jager," or the '' Wild Huntsman," 
ballads of singular wildness and power. These, 
however, made little impression on the public mind. 
Of this he says, " The failure of my first publica- 
tion did not operate, in any unpleasant degree, 
either on my feelings or spirits. To speak can- 
didly, I found pleasure in the literary labor in 
which I had, almost by accident, become engaged, 
and labored less in the hope of pleasing others, 
though certainly without despair of doing so, than 
in the pursuit of a new and agreeable amusement 
to myself." He continued to read the German, 
and to make translations from it, and became more 
and more interested in the ballad poetry. He w^as 
delighted to find the affinity of the old English, and 
especially of the Scottish language to the German, 
not in sound merely, but in the turn of phrase, so 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 341 

that they were capable of being rendered line for 
line, with very little variation. 

By degrees he acquired sufficient confidence to 
attempt the imitation of what he so much admired. 
His first original poem was "Glenfinlas." Next 
followed " The Eve of St. John." Owing to unfor- 
tunate circumstances these had no great success. 
Nothing daunted, however, he again appeared be- 
fore the public with his " Minstrelsy of the Scottish 
Border," which immediately became popular. The 
success of this last work, not only established his 
reputation as an author, but encouraged him to 
devote himself to literary pursuits. Under appoint- 
ment as SheriflT of Selkirkshire, he enjoyed the kind 
of associations and employments favorable to the 
cultivation of his poetical powers. Among other 
things, he edited the metrical romance of " Sir 
Tristrem," supposed to be written by " Thomas the 
Rhymer," or Thomas of Ercildoune, laird, poet 
and prophet, who flourished about the year 1280. 
The dissertations which accompanied this work, 
and the imitation of the original to complete the 
romance, evinced his antiquarian attainments and 
fine poetical taste. At length appeared " The Lay 
of the Last Minstrel," a higher, purer strain, which 
was received with universal enthusiasm, and 
stamped him a great and original poet. His fine 
conception of the minstrel, his easy versification, 
his admirable narrative, his glowing pictures, his 
wild ballad enthusiasm, his legendary lore, and his 
exquisite touches of the marvellous and supernatu- 
ral, combined to render the poem popular beyond 

29* 



342 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

all precedent. Thirty thousand copies were speed- 
ily sold by the trade. Then, in quick succession, 
followed that splendid series of poems, so popular 
in their day, and still so interesting and delightful. 
Intrinsically, they are inferior to some of the higher 
strains of English poetry, but they possess certain 
qualities which gained the public ear, and found a 
place in the national heart. These doubtless were 
the novelty of their style, their natural and simple 
versification, their easy, dramatic narrative, and 
their lively descriptions of national scenes and 
manners, in contrast with the formal hexameters, 
with "all their buckram and binding," of which 
the pubhc had become tired. 

Being in easy, and almost in affluent circum- 
stances, Scott became ambitious of founding a fam- 
ily. For this purpose he bought land on the banks 
of the Tweed, and built Abbotsford, at a very con- 
siderable expense. He received the order of 
knighthood, and looked forward to days of ease 
and prosperity. Devoting himself almost entirely 
to literary pursuits, he formed connections in busi- 
ness with James Ballantyne, then rising into exten- 
sive business in the city of Edinburgh. This in- 
volved the necessity of large advances, and Scott 
became involved in large pecuniary responsibilities. 
He received an appointment as one of the principal 
Clerks of the Court of Session, with perhaps six 
thousand dollars per annum. This, with the gains 
of the printing establishment, and other sources of 
revenue, would have secured to him and his family 
an ample provision. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 343 

With his customary sagacity, Sir Walter per- 
ceived that his peculiar style of poetry would not 
continue popular, and therefore he betook himself 
to a new field of literary enterprise, which proved 
still richer, and, by far, more congenial. Then ap- 
peared his historical novels, which became so popu- 
lar, that his fame as a poet was almost forgotten. 
Volume after volume came from the press, and 
spread like wildfire over the land. Translated into 
French, German, and Italian, they reached every 
part of Europe, and completely superseded the old 
run of novels, with their unnatural plots and extra- 
vagant nonsense. It was Scott's ambition to ele- 
vate this species of literature, and whatever objec- 
tions may be made against it, on the score of moral 
influence, this much must be conceded to him. In 
his hands novel writing became comparatively pure 
and dignified, nay, as some, with considerable show 
of reason, contend, beneficial. The moral tone of 
all Sir Walter's productions is pre-eminently pure. 
They are characterized by shrewd sense, a pro- 
found insight into men and things, a keen percep- 
tion of the beautiful and brave, the generous and 
leal, a fine sense of honor, reverence for God, and 
a deep sympathy with all the wants and woes, the 
hopes and joys of our common humanity. Sir 
Walter is the Shakspeare of novel writing, and if 
he falls below the great dramatic poet, in the quick- 
ness and universality of his genius, he approaches 
him in the soundness of his intellect, the breadth of 
his imagination, and the versatility of his powers. 
From his Tory and High Church predilections he 



344 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

has done some injustice to the old Covenanters and 
Puritans of Scotland ; but he possessed a noble and 
generous heart, a spirit of faith and reverence, a 
love for God and all his creatures. His soul v^as 
naturally blithe and joyous, hopeful and strong. 
He loved Scotland with intense affection, and has 
spread the hght of his genius over all her hills and 
vales. Under the magic influence of his pen the 
hoary mountains, the dark tarns and trosachs of the 
Highlands gleam v^ith supernal beauty. Tv^eed 
murmurs his name, while the Firth and Tay repeat 
it through all their windings. His " own romantic 
town" glories in his memory ; every city, village 
and hamlet of the Lowlands, with strath, meadow 
and moorland, echo his praise. The Genius of his 
country has crowned him with the same wild 
wreath which erst she hung upon the head of 
Burns, and the world has acknowledged the con- 
secration. 

It was in the year 1826 that Ballantyne and 
Company became insolvent, and Sir Walter Scott, 
in the very midst of his splendid career, found him- 
self involved to the amount of $600,000. But he 
nobly refused to become a bankrupt, considering, 
says Allan Cunningham, " like the elder Osbaldis- 
tone of his own immortal pages, commercial honor 
as dear as any other honor." All he asked for was 
time ; and in seven years he paid off" more than the 
half of this sum by the labors of his pen. His 
efforts to accomplish this subhme purpose were 
gigantic, but they broke down his constitution. 
"Sometime in the beginning of the year 1831,'* 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 345 

says his friend Cunningham, " a sore ilhiess came 
upon him ; his astonishing efforts to satisfy his cred- 
itors, began to exhaust a mind apparently exhaust- 
less ; and the world heard with concern that a 
paralytic stroke had affected his speech and his 
right hand, so much as to render writing a matter 
of difficulty. One of his letters to me at this period, 
is not written with his own hand : the signature is 
his, and looks cramped and weak. I visited him 
at Abbotsford, about the end of July, 1831 : he was 
a degree more feeble than I had ever seen him, 
and his voice seemed affected ; not so his activity 
of fancy, and surprising resources of conversation. 
He told anecdotes and recited scraps of verse, old 
and new, always tending to illustrate something 
passing. He showed me his armory, in which he 
took visible pleasure ; and was glad to hear me 
commend the design of his house, as well as the 
skill with which it was built. * * * In a 
small room, half library and half armory, he usu- 
ally sat and wrote : here he had some remarkable 
weapons, curious pieces of old Scottish furniture, 
such as chairs and cabinets, and an antique sort of 
a table, on which lay his writing materials. A 
crooked headed staff of Abbotsford oak or hazel 
usually lay beside him to support his steps as he 
went and came." 

" When it was known," continues Cunningham, 
" that Sir Walter Scott's health declined, the deep 
solicitude of all ranks became manifest ; strangers 
came from far lands to look on the house which 
contained the great genius of our times ; inquirers 



346 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

flocked around, of humble and of high degree, and 
the amount of letters of inquiry or condolence was, 
I have heard, enormous. Amongst the visitors, 
not the least welcome was Wordsworth, the poet, 
who arrived when the air of the northern hills was 
growing too sharp for the enfeebled frame of Scott, 
and he had resolved to try if the fine air and cli- 
mate of Italy would restore him to health and 
strength. 

" When Government heard of Sir Walter's 
wishes, they offered him a ship ; he left Abbotsford 
as many thought forever, and arrived in London, 
where he was welcomed as never mortal was 
welcomed before. He visited several friends, nor 
did he refuse to mingle in company, and having 
written something almost approaching to a fare- 
well to the world, which was published with ' Castle 
Dangerous,' the last of his works, he set sail for 
Italy, with the purpose of touching at Malta. He 
seemed revived, but it was only for a while : he 
visited Naples, but could not enjoy the high honors 
paid to him : he visited Rome, and sighed amid its 
splendid temples and glorious works of art, for 
gray Melrose and the pleasant banks of Tweed, 
and passing out of Italy, proceeded homewards 
down the Rhine. Word came to London, that a 
dreadful attack of paralysis had nearly deprived 
him of Hfe, and that but for the presence of mind 
of a faithful servant he must have perished. This 
alarming news was followed by his arrival in Lon- 
don : a strong desire of home had come upon him ; 
he travelled with rapidity, night and day, and was 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 347 

all but worn out, when carried into St. James's 
Hotel, Jermyn street, by his servants." 

As soon as he recovered a little, he resumed his 
journey to Scotland, reached Abbotsford, and 
seemed revived, smiled when he was borne into 
his library, and enjoyed the society of his children. 
When he was leaving London the people, wherever 
he was recognized, took off' their hats, saying, " God 
bless you, Sir Walter !" His arrival in Scotland 
was hailed with equal enthusiasm and sympathy; 
and so much was he revived that hopes were en- 
tertained of his recovery. But he gradually de- 
cHned, listening occasionally to passages from the 
Bible, and irom the poems of Crabbe and Words- 
worth. Once he tried to write, but failed in the 
attempt. " He never spoke of his literary labors 
or success." Occasionally his mind wandered, and 
then he was preparing for the reception of the Duke 
of Wellington at Abbotsford, or exercising the 
functions of a judge, as if presiding at the trial of 
members of his own family. It may be regarded 
as a singular fact, that in his delirium, his mind 
never wandered toward those works which had 
filled the world with his fame. But the flame of 
life now flickered feebly in its socket, and gave un- 
erring indications of its speedy extinction. "About 
half past one, P. M.," says Mr. Lockhart, his son- 
in-law and biographer, "on the 21st of September, 
1832, Sir Walter breathed his last, in the presence 
of all his children. It was a beautiful day — so 
warm that every window was open — and so per- 
fectly still that the sound, of all others most de- 



348 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

licious to his ear, the gentle ripple of the Tweed 
over its pebbles, was distinctly audible, as we knelt 
around his bed, and his eldest son kissed and closed 
his eyes." 

The remains of Sir Walter were buried in Dry- 
burgh Abbey. *' As we advanced," says one who 
was present at the funeral, which was conducted 
with the greatest simplicity and solemnity, " the 
ruined abbey disclosed itself through the trees ; 
and w^e approached its w^estern extremity, where a 
considerable portion of vaulted roof still remains 
to protect the poet's family place of interment, 
which opens to the sides in lofty Gothic arches, and 
is defended by a low rail of enclosure. At one 
extremity of it, a tall thriving young cypress rears 
its spiral form. Creeping plants of different kinds, 
' with ivy never sere,' have spread themselves very 
luxuriantly over every part of the Abbey. These 
perhaps w^ere in many instances the children of 
art ; but however this may have been, nature had 
herself undertaken their education. In this spot 
especially, she seems to have been most indus- 
triously busy in twining her richest wreaths around 
those walls which more immediately form her 
poet's tomb. Amongst her other decorations, we 
observed a plum tree, which was perhaps at one 
period a prisoner, chained to the solid masonry, but 
which having long since been emancipated, now 
threw out its wild pendent branches, laden with 
purple fruit, ready to drop, as if emblematical of 
the ripening and decay of human life. 

" In such a scene as this, then, it was that the 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 349 

coffin of Sir Walter Scott was set down on trestles 
placed outside the iron railing ; and here that sol- 
emn service, beginning with those words, so cheer- 
ing to the souls of Christians, ' I am the resurrec- 
tion and the Hfe,' was solemnly read. The manly, 
soldier-like features of the chief mourner, on whom 
the eyes of sympathy w^ere most naturally turned, 
betrayed at intervals the powerful efforts which he 
had made to master his emotions, as well as the in- 
efficiency of his exertions to do so. The other 
relatives who surrounded the bier were deeply 
moved ; and amid the crowd of weeping friends, 
no eye, and no heart could be discovered that was 
not altogether occupied in that sad and impressive 
ceremonial, which w^as so soon to shut from them 
forever, him who had been so long the common 
idol of their admiration, and of their best affections. 
Here and there, indeed, we might have fancied 
that we detected some early and long tried friends 
of him who lay cold before us, who, whilst tears 
dimmed their eyes, and w^hilst their lips quivered, 
were yet partly engaged in mixing up and con- 
trasting the happier scenes of days long gone by, 
with that which they were now witnessing, until 
they became lost in dreamy reverie, so that even 
the movement made when the coffin was carried 
under the lofty arches of the ruin, and when dust 
was committed to dust, did not entirely snap the 
thread of their visions. It was not until the harsh 
sound of the hammers of the workmen who were 
employed to rivet those iron bars covering the 
grave, to secure it from violation, had begun to 



350 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

echo from the vaulted roof, that some of us were 
called to the full conviction of the fact, that the 
earth had forever closed over that form v^hich we 
were wont to love and reverence ; that eye which 
we had so often seen beaming with benevolence, 
sparkling with wit, or lighted up with a poefs 
frenzy ; those lips which we had so often seen 
monopolizing the attention of all listeners, or heard 
rolling out, with nervous accentuation, those pow- 
erful verses with which his head was continually 
teeming ; and that brow, the perpetual throne of 
generous expression, and liberal intelligence. Over- 
whelmed by the conviction of this afflicting truth, 
men moved away without parting salutation, singly, 
slowly, and silently. The day began to stoop 
down into twilight; and we, too, after giving a 
last parting survey to the spot where now repose 
the remains of our Scottish Shakspeare, a spot 
lovely enough to induce his sainted spirit to haunt 
and sanctify its shades, hastily tore ourselves 
away." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Melrose Abbey — The Eildon Hills — Thomas the Rhymer — 
Dryburgh — "-Monuments to the Author of • The Seasons' and 
Sir William Wallace — Kelso — Beautiful scenery — A Pleasant 
Evening — Biographical Sketch of Leyden, Poet^ Antiquary, 
Scholar and Traveller — The Duncan Family — Journey Re- 
sumed — Twisel Bridge — Battle of Flodden — Norham Castle 
— Berwick upon Tweed — Biographical Sketch of Thomas 
Mackay Wilson, author of 'The Border Tales' — Conclusion — 
^ Auld Lang Syne.' 

After visiting " fair Melrose," whose ruins, rising 
in the centre of a rich landscape, and rendered im- 
mortal by the exquisite descriptions of Sir Walter 
Scott, are the most interesting and beautiful of 
any in Scotland ; — wandering over the Eildon 
Hills, the Trimontium of the Romans, from the 
summits of which some thirty miles of wild and 
varied scenery can be surveyed ; gazing on the 
ruins of Ercildoune, the manor-house of Thomas 
the Rhymer, whose real name was Thomas Lear- 
mont, author of " The Romance of Tristan," a poem 
of the thirteenth century, in the language of an- 
tique Chaucer ; lingering in Dryburgh Abbey, em- 
bosomed in a richly wooded haugh on the banks of 
the Tweed ; and especially gazing, in reverent 
homage, on the grave of " the Great Magician of 
the North," in St. Mary's Aisle, so sad and yet so 
fair ; crossing the Tweed, and pausing a few mo- 
ments, to examine a circular temple on the banks 



352 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

of the river, dedicated to the Muses, and surmount- 
ed by a bust of Thomson, author of " The Seasons," 
and a little further on the colossal statue of Sir 
William Wallace, the hero of Scotland, which 
stands upon a rocky eminence and overlooks the 
river, and a fine prospect of "wood and water, 
mountain and rock scenery," we pass along the 
banks of the Tweed, till we come to the handsome 
town of Kelso, on the margin of the river, with its 
ancient Abbey and delightful environs. 

As the day is far spent, we will stay here for the 
night. But, before the sun goes down, let us wan- 
der over the neighborhood, which is singularly 
beautiful, and redolent with the genius of Scott and 
of Leyden, who has described it in his " Scenes of 
Infancy." 

'' Bosom'd in woods where mighty rivers run, 
Kelso's fair vale expands before the sun ; 
Its rising downs in vernal beauty swell, 
And fringed with hazel, winds each flowery dell, 
Green spangled plains to dimpled lawns succeed. 
And Tempe rises on the banks of Tweed : 
Blue o'er the river Kelso's shadow lies, 
And copse-clad isles amid the water rise." 

As the view from the bridge which spans the 
river is said to be one of the richest in Scotland, 
we linger there till the sun goes down. 'Tis a soft, 
still, summer afternoon, beginning to gUde into the 
long and beautiful twilight. The rays of the sun 
are yet upon the mountains, and tinge the summits 
of the woods, the rocks, and the castellated edi- 
fices, which adorn the landscape. The Tweed is 
gliding, in shadow, through the w^ooded vale, and 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 353 

the songs of the mavis and blackbird are echoing 
among the trees. A little above the bridge the 
clear waters of the Teviot and the Tweed flow 
together, as if attracted by each other's beauty. 
Beyond are the picturesque ruins of Roxburgh 
Castle, and somewhat nearer the ducal palace of 
Fleurs, rising amid a rich expanse of wooded de- 
corations, sloping down to the very margin of the 
river ; in front are gleaming two green islets of the 
Tweed, and between that river and the Teviot re- 
poses the beautiful peninsula of Friar's Green, w^ith 
the soft meadow in its foreground. On the south 
bank of the river are the mansion and woods of 
Springwood Park, and the bridge across the Te- 
viot, on which are reposing the mellow rays of the 
setting sun. On the right the town lies along the 
bank of the river, with its elegant mansions and 
venerable abbey. There too is Ednam House, 
near which the poet Thomson had his birth. Far 
beyond these, the eye rests pleasantly on " the 
triple summits" of the Eildon Hills, looking down 
protectingly upon the vale of Tweed, the hills of 
Stitchell and Mellerstain, and the striking ruin of 
Home Castle, still arrayed in the purple and gold 
of departing day. Intermingled with all these are 
the windings and rippling currents of the river, 
clumps of rich green foliage, orchards laden with 
fruit, tufted rocks, verdant slopes, single trees of 
lofty stature, standing out from the rest, in the 
pride and pomp of their " leafy umbrage," cattle 
browsing peacefully on the banks of the stream, 
here and there a sylvan cottage, and an infinite 

30* 



354 GENIUS OP SCOTLAND. 

variety of light and shade, of blending colors and 
changing forms, hallowed, moreover, by the hoary 
memories and poetical associations of bygone days. 
No wonder that Leyden loved to wander in such 
scenes, or that Scott, a more transcendent genius, 
should have ascribed to this influence the awakening 
in his soul '' of that insatiable love of natural sce- 
nery, more especially when combined with ancient 
ruins, or remains of our fathers' piety and splen- 
dor," which gave a charm to his life, and imparted 
to the productions of his genius a warmth and rich- 
ness of coloring unequalled in the history of lite- 
rature. 

But it is time to return to our comfortable hotel 
in Kelso, where mine host, who is an honest, round- 
faced, rosy-cheeked, good-natured Scot, will give 
us good cheer for supper, and a bed soft as down 
upon which to repose our weary limbs. 

Well now, this is pleasant! Here in this snug 
room, with a cheerful cup of tea, and such toast, 
broiled chicken, and other edibles, as mine host 
only can produce, we feel as easy and independent 
as kings, aye, and a great deal more so ; for who 
so satisfied and happy as the man, whatever his 
estate, who has a clear conscience, a mind brimful 
of sweet memories, a heart grateful to God and at- 
tached to those he loves? Let any person only do 
what is right, trust in God, enjoy nature, cultivate 
his mind, exercise his body, and he may secure as 
much happiness as falls to the lot of mortals. Trials 
may come, but joys will come also. All things 
shall " work together for good." 



GENIUS OP SCOTLAND. 355 

But it is easy moralizing over a good cup of tea, 
with a cheerful fire blazing in the grate, and a soft 
bed in prospect for weary limbs. Moreover, I 
promised to give you some account of Leyden, 
poet and antiquary, scholar and traveler. 

John Leyden was born in 1775, in Denholm, 
Roxburghshire, not far from Kelso, of poor but 
honest parents. He displayed in early life the 
most eager desire for learning, but possessed few 
opportunities for gratifying it, as he had to spend 
much of his time in manual toil. His parents, 
however, seeing his thirst for knowledge, resolved 
to send him to Edinburgh University. He entered 
this institution in his fifteenth year, and made un- 
usual progress in his studies. He distinguished 
himself in the Latin and Greek languages, acquired 
the French, Spanish, Italian and German, besides 
forming some acquaintance with the Hebrew, Ara- 
bic and Persian. During his college vacations he 
returned to the humble roof of his parents, and as 
the accommodations of the house were scanty, he 
looked for a place of study elsewhere. " In a wild 
recess," says Sir Walter Scott, who has furnished 
an animated biography of Leyden, "in the den or 
glen which gives name to the village of Denholm, 
he contrived a sort of furnace for the purpose of 
such chemical experiments as he was adequate to 
performing. But his chief place of retirement was 
the small parish church, a gloomy and ancient 
building, generally beHeved in the neighborhood 
to be haunted. To this chosen place of study, 
usually locked during week days, Leyden made 



356 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

entrance by means of a window, read there for 
many hours in the day, and deposited his books 
and specimens in a retired pew. It was a well 
chosen spot for seclusion, for the kirk, (excepting 
during divine service,) is rather a place of terror to 
the Scottish rustic, and that of Cavers was rendered 
more so by many a tale of ghosts and witchcraft, 
of which it was the supposed scene, and to which 
Leyden, partly to indulge his humor, and partly to 
secure his retirement, contrived to make some 
modern additions. The nature of his abstruse 
studies, some specimens of natural history, as toads 
and adders, left exposed in their spirit vials, and 
one or two practical jests played off upon the more 
curious of the peasantry, rendered his gloomy 
haunt, not only venerated by the wise, but feared 
by the simple of the parish.'' 

Leyden was originally intended for the clerical 
profession, but abandoned it for more secular em- 
ployments. His spirit was intense, restless and 
ambitious, and he longed for foreign travel and 
literary distinction. After spending five years at 
college, he became tutor to a highly respectable 
family, with whose sons he repaired to the Univer- 
sity of St. Andrews, where he pursued his Oriental 
studies, and in 1799 published a History of African 
Discoveries. He was the author, also, of various 
translations and poems, w^hich attracted consider- 
able attention and introduced him to the best so- 
ciety. In 1800 he was ordained as a minister, and 
his discourses were highly popular ; but he was 
dissatisfied with them, and felt that he was called 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 357 

to a different sphere. He continued to write and 
compose, contributed to Lewis's " Tales of Won- 
der," and Scott's "Border Minstrelsy." He was 
an enthusiastic admirer of the old ballads, and on 
one occasion actually walked between forty and 
fifty miles for the sole purpose of visiting an old 
person who possessed an ancient historical ballad. 
He edited the " Scot's Magazine," for a year, and 
published " The Complaynt of Scotland," an old 
work written about 1548, which he accompanied 
with a learned dissertation, notes and a glossary. 
His strong desire to visit foreign lands induced his 
friends to procure for him an appointment in India, 
where he might study the oriental languages and 
literature. The only situation which they found 
available was that of assistant surgeon, for which 
it was necessary to have a medical diploma. But 
such was the energy, decision and perseverance of 
Leyden's character, that he qualified himself in six 
months ; and not long after set out for Madras. 
Before taking his departure he finished his "Scenes 
of Infancy," as it were, the last token of his love 
for Scotland, which he never again beheld. He 
was resolved to distinguish himself or die in the 
attempt. Indeed a premonition of such an issue 
seems to have haunted his mind, and was ex- 
pressed, with touching beauty, in his " Scenes of 
Infancy." 

" The silver moon at midniglit cold and still, 
Looks sad and silent o'er yon western hill j 
While large and pale the ghostly structures grow, 
Reared on the confines of the world below. 



358 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

Is that dull sound tlie hum of Teviot's stream? 
Is that blue light the moon's or tomb-fire's gleam? 
By which a mouldering pile is faintly seen, 
The old deserted church of Hazeldean, 
Where slept my fathers in their natal clay, 
Till Teviot's waters rolled their bones away ? 
Their feeble voices from their stream they raise — 
^ Rash youth ! unmindful of thy early days, 
Why didst thou quit the simple peasant's lot ? 
Why didst thou leave the peasant's turf-built cot, 
The ancient graves where all thy fathers lie. 
And Teviot's stream that long has murmur'd by ? 
And we, when death so long has clos'd our eyes, 
How wilt thou bid us from the dust arise. 
And bear our mouldering bones across the main, 
From vales that knew onr lives devoid of stain 1 
Rash youth ! beware, thy homebred virtues save. 
And sweetly sleep in thy paternal grave.' " 

After his arrival in Madras, his health became 
impaired, and he removed to Prince of Wales Isl- 
and. He resided there some time, visiting the 
neighboring countries, and amassing curious infor- 
mation on the literature and history of the Indo- 
Chinese, which he embodied in an elaborate disser- 
tation read before the Asiatic Societv at Calcutta. 
Quitting Prince of Wales Island, Ley den was 
appointed a professor in the Bengal College, which 
he soon exchanged for the office of judge, a more 
lucrative employment. His spare time was de- 
voted to the prosecution of his oriental studies. 
" I may die in the attempt," he wrote to a friend, 
" but if I die without surpassing Sir William Jones 
a hundredfold in oriental learning, let never a tear 
for me profane the eye of a borderer." In 1811 
he accompanied the governor general to Java. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 359 

His spirit of bold adventure led him literally to 
rush upon death. He threw himself into the surf 
in order to be the first Briton who should set foot 
upon Java. When the invaders had taken posses- 
sion of Batavia, the same reckless eagerness took 
him into a cold damp library, in which were many 
books and manuscripts. Affected perhaps by the 
disease of the climate he had a fit of shivering on 
leaving the library, and declared that the atmos- 
phere was enough to give any one a mortal fever. 
In three days after he died, August 28, 1811, on 
the eve of the battle which secured Java to the 
British Empire. 

Leyden's Poetical Remains were published in 
1819, with a memoir. In addition to the " Scenes 
of Infancy," it contains some vigorous ballads. To 
one of these, " The Mermaid," as well as to the 
untimely death of its author. Sir Walter Scott has 
referred in his " Lord of the Isles." 

^' Scarba's Isle, whose tortured shore 
Still rings to Corrievreckin's roar, 

And lovely Colonsay ; 
Scenes sung by him who sings no more : 
His bright and brief career is o'er, 

And mute his tuneful strains ; 
Gluenched is his lamp of varied lore, 
That loved the light of song to pour : 
A distant and a deadly shore 

Has Leyden's cold remains.'^ 

His " Scenes of Infancy" is distinguished for the 
sweetness of its versification, and its pleasant pic- 
tures of the vale of Teviot. In strength and en- 
thusiasm, it is much inferior to his ballads. The 



360 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

opening of " The Mermaid," has been praised by 
Sir Walter Scott " as exhibiting a power of num- 
bers, which for mere melody of sound has rarely 
been excelled." 

On Jura's heath how sweetly swell 
The murmurs of the mountain bee ! 

How softly, mourns the writh'd shell 
Of Jura's shore, its parent sea. 

But softer, floating o'er the deep, 

The mermaid's sweet, sea-soothing lay, 

That charmed the dancing waves to sleep, 
Before the bark of Colonsay. 

But better known, and far more affecting, is 
Leyden's " Ode to an Indian Gold Coin," written 
in Cherical, Malabar, which in addition to its vigor 
and beauty, has a fine moral which it is not neces- 
sary to point out. 

Slave of the dark and dirty mine ! 

What vanity has brought thee here ? 
How can I love to see thee shine 

So bright, whom I have bought so dear ? 

The tent-ropes flapping lone I hear, 
t'or twilight converse arm in arm ; 

The jackal's shriek bursts on my ear. 
When mirth and music wont to cheer. 

By Chericars dark wandering streams, 

Where cane-tufts shadow all the wild, 
Sweet visions haunt my waking dreams 

Of Teviot loved while still a child ; 

Of castled rocks stupendous piled 
By Esk or Eden's classic wave, 

Where loves of youth and friendship smiled 
Uncursed by thee, vile yellow slave ! 

Fade, day-dreams sweet, from memory fade ! 
The perished bliss of youth's first prime, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 861 

That once so bright on fancy played, 

Revives no more in after time. 

Far from my sacred natal clime 
I haste to an untimely grave ; 

The daring thoughts that soared sublime 
Are sunk in ocean's southern wave. 

Slave of the mine, thy yellow light 

Gleams baleful as the tomb-fire drear. 
A gentle vision comes by night 

My lonely widowed heart to cheer : 

Her eyes are dim with many a tear, 
That once were guiding-stars to mine ; 

Her fond heart throbs with many a fear ! 
I cannot bear to see thee shine. 

For thee, for thee, vile yellow slave, 

I left a heart that loved me true ! 
I crossed the tedious ocean wave, ^ 

To roam in climes unkind and new. 

The cold wind of the stranger blew 
Chill on my withered heart ; the grave 

Dark and untimely met my view — 
And all for thee, vile yellow slave ! 

Ha ! com'st thou now so late to mock 

A wanderer's banished heart forlorn, 
Now that his frame, the lightning shock 

Of sun-rays tipt with death has borne ? 

From love, from friendship, country, torn, _ 

To memory's fond regrets the prey : 

Vile slave, thy yellow dross I scorn ! 
Go mix thee with thy kindred clay ! 

While conversing about Leyden, we must not 
forget a gentler, purer spirit, Mary Lundie Duncan, 
who first saw the light " amid the blossoms of 
Kelso," and whose young heart first warbled its 
poetic strains on the banks of the Tweed. Her 
"Memoir," by her gifted mother, is one of the 

31 



362 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

most beautiful and touching biographies in the 
English language. Possessed of genius and piety, 
at once pure and tender, her brief hfe was the fair 
but changeful spring-time which preceded the long 
summer of eternity. 

Sweet bird of Scotia's tuneful clime, 

So beautiful and dear, 
Whose music gusbed as genius taught, 
With Heaven's own quenchless spirit fraught, 

I list — thy strain to hear. 

Bright flower on Kelso's bosom born, 

When spring her glories shed, 
Where Tweed flows on in silver sheen, 
And Tiviot feeds her valleys green, 

I cannot think thee dead. 

Fair child — whose rich unfoldings gave 

A promise rare and true, 
The parent's proudest thoughts to cheer, 
And soothe of widowed woe the tear, — 

Why hid'st thou from our view ? 

Young bride, whose wildest thrill of hope 

Bowed the pure brow in prayer, 
Whose ardent zeal and saintly grace. 
Did make the manse a holy place. 

We search — thou art not there. 

Fond mother, they who taught thy joys 

To sparkle up so high ; 
Thy first born, and her brother dear 
Catch charms from every fleeting year : — 

Where is thy glistening eye ? 

Meek Christian, it is well with thee, 

That where thy heart so long 
Was garnered up, thy home should be : — 
Thy path with Him who made thee free ; — 

Thy lay — an angel's song. 

Lydia H. Sigourney, 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 363 

Some of Mary Lqndie Duncan's poems are cha- 
racterized not merely by pm'ity and elevation of 
sentiment, but by sweetness and melody of versifi- 
cation. The following written at " Callander," 
though not without defects, indicates the possession 
of true poetical genius. 

How pure the light on yonder hills, 

How soft the shadows lie ; 
How blythe each morning sound that fills 

The air with melody ! 

Those hills, that rest in solemn calm 

Above the strife of men, 
Are bathed in breezy gales of balm 

From knoll and heathy glen. 

In converse with the silent sky, 

They mock the flight of years ; 
While man and all his labors die 

Low in this vale of tears. 

Meet emblem of eternal rest. 

They point their summits grey 
To the fair regions of the blest, 

Where tends our pilgrim way. 

The everlasting mountains there 

Reflect undying light ; 
The ray which gilds that ambient air, 

Nor fades, nor sets in night. 

Then summer sun more piercing bright, 

That beam is milder too ; 
For love is in the sacred light 

That softens every hue. 

The gale that fans the peaceful clime 

Is life's immortal breath. 
Its freshness makes the sons of time 

Forget disease and death. 



864 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

And shall we tread that holy ground, 
And breathe that fragrant air ; 

And view the fields with glory crowned 
In cloudless beauty fair ? 



# 



# 



Look up ! look up, to yonder light, 

That cheers the desert grey : 
It marks the close of toil and night, 

The dawn of endless day. 

How sweet your choral hymns will blend 

With harps of heavenly tone ; 
When glad you sing your journey^s end 

Around your Father's throne. 

Mary's contributions to " The Philosophy of the 
Seasons," over the signature of M. L. D., such as 
" The Rose," " The Bat," " Sabbath Morning," an 
" Autumnal Sabbath Evening," are simple and ele- 
gant, indicating the possession of good sense and a 
refined imagination. Like her brother Archibald 
Lundie, who went to the South Sea Islands in 
order to benefit his health, and to labor in the sub- 
lime work of Christian missions, Mary passed 
away in the morning of her days, but not without 
leaving a blessed fragrance behind her, which yet 
lingers, not over Scotland alone, but over the 
whole Christian world. And well might her 
stricken yet resigned and hopeful mother say, in 
the words quoted at the close of her daughter's 
Memoir : 

'^ I know thou art gone where thy forehead is starred 
With the beauty that dwelt in thy soul ; 
Where the light of thy loveliness cannot be marred, 
Nor thy heart be flung back from its gaol ; 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 365 

I know thou hast drank of the Lethe that flows 
Through a land where they do not forget j 

That sheds over memory only repose, 
And takes from it only regret. 

^' And though like a mourner that sits by a tomb, 
I am wrapt in a mantle of care ; 
Yet the grief of my bosom — oh ! call it not gloom — 

Is not the black grief of despair. 
By sorrow revealed, as the stars are by night, 

Far oif thy bright vision appears ; 
And hope like the rainbow, a creature of light, 
Is born like the rainbow — in tears." 

/. K. Hervey. 

The Duncan family to which Mary Lundie, by 
her marriage with one of the sons, belonged, is one 
of the most interesting in Scotland. All of its 
members seem possessed of fine talents, devoted 
piety, and generous affections. Several of the 
sons, with the father, were ministers of the estab- 
lished church of Scotland at the time of the seces- 
sion of the Free Church from that body, and made 
a sacrifice, for conscience' sake, of not less than 
seventeen thousand dollars a year ! Without the 
shghtest hesitation, and without a murmur even, 
they abandoned their beautiful manses, their 
churches and people, and threw themselves, with 
their brethren of the Free Church, upon the provi- 
dence of God, not knowing what might be the 
issues of that sublime movement. " The Philosophy 
of the Seasons,"* though written mainly by the 
father, the Rev. Dr. Duncan of Ruthwell, received 
contributions from all the members of the family, 

♦ Published by R. Carter, in four handsome octavos. 
31* 



366 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

and remains a splendid monument of their talents, 
piety and mutual affection. It is fast becoming a 
classic. Filled with information, and imbued with 
a spirit of fervid piety, and, moreover, written in a 
lucid, flowing style, it is well fitted at once to in- 
struct and please. 

As Dr. Duncan has recently deceased, a brief 
sketch of his Hfe may not be uninteresting in this 
connection. 

Dr. Henry Duncan was " a son of the Manse.'* 
He was born in 1774, at Lochrutton, in the stew- 
artry of Kirkcudbright, of which his father and his 
grandfather were ministers successively, during a 
period of eighty years, a striking instance of pasto- 
ral permanence. If wealth consists " in the num- 
ber of things we love," then those good men must 
have been rich beyond the common lot of ministers ; 
and young Henry must have received from them 
a rich heritage of blessings. He was educated at 
the Universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow, and 
Edinburgh. While attending the latter he was a 
member of the " Speculative Society," to which 
many of the most distinguished literary characters 
belonged, and associated freely with Lord Brough- 
am, the Marquis of Landsdowne, Dr. Andrew 
Thomson and others. He became the pastor of 
the Established church in Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, 
where he labored with great success for many 
years. He died in the forty-seventh year of his 
ministry. 

Dr. Duncan was imbued with a spirit of enlarged 
Christian benevolence, and felt a peculiar interest 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 367 

in the amelioration of the condition of the poorer 
classes. Hence he formed the scheme of the 
" Cheap Repository Tracts," addressed to the 
working classes, and designed to enforce the most 
useful lessons suited to their condition. It was in 
this collection that his " Cottage Fireside" was 
first published, a production which became exceed- 
ingly popular, and passed through many editions. 
The book abounds in happy delineations of Scot- 
tish manners, fine strokes of humor, and admirable 
lessons of practical wisdom. *' The South Country 
Weaver,'' possesses the same qualities and aims ; 
and, in a time of excessive political excitement, did 
much to allay the discontent and revolutionary 
tendency of the people. He is also said to be the 
author of another work of a higher grade, written 
in the same style of fictitious narrative, and intended 
to vindicate the principles and proceedings of the 
Scottish Covenanters, from the aspersions cast 
upon them by the author of Waverley. This pro- 
duction has been highly esteemed by good judges 
of literary merit, but it never became popular. 

It may well be supposed that Dr. Duncan felt a 
peculiar interest, not only in the spiritual but also 
in the temporal condition of his own parish, and 
hence he was ever devising plans for its benefit. 
In this respect he much resembled the benevolent 
Oberlin, whose well directed schemes turned the 
barren parish of Waldbach into a little paradise. 
Entering upon the duties of his charge at a time of 
national scarcity and distress, he imported from 
Liverpool, at considerable expense, and with great 



368 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

personal inconvenience, large quantities of food, 
which he distributed among his poor parishioners. 
He also devised new modes and sources of employ- 
ment, and cheered them amid their privations by 
his counsel and sympathy. He instituted among 
them two admirable " Friendly Societies," one for 
males and another for females, the advantages of 
which are enjoyed to this day. But perhaps his 
highest claim to distinction as a philanthropist was 
the establishment of " The Ruthwell Parish Bank," 
the first " Savings Bank" in Europe, which, it is 
said, was suggested to him partly by the beneficial 
results and partly by the admitted defects of the 
Friendly Societies. His undoubted title to be re- 
garded as the originator of " Savings Banks," has 
been acknowledged by the highest authorities ; but 
it is not so generally known at what an immense 
expenditure of time, talent, energy and pecuniary 
means he succeeded in accomplishing this good 
object. 

Dr. Duncan's learning and talents were of a 
high order, and these were devoted exclusively to 
the benefit of his fellow men. His principal lite- 
rary work, " The Sacred Philosophy of the Sea- 
sons," was planned and written in a single year, 
an astonishing instance of mental energy, industry 
and talent. " Never were the different kingdoms 

a 

and varying aspects of nature, the characteristics 
of the seasons, and all the grand and beautiful phe- 
nomena of the year, more philosophically and more 
eloquently described than in this charming book. 
The comprehensive views of the philosopher, the 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 369 

poetic feeling of the lover of nature, and the pious 
reflection of the Christian divine, are all combined 
in its pages, and win at once the admiration and 
affection of the reader." Here genius and piety, 
the love of nature and the love of God spread their 
sunlight over the face of creation, and make visible 
to all reverent and thoughtful minds 

" The Gospel of the stars — great Nature's Holy Writ." 

As a preacher Dr. Duncan v^as interesting and 
instructive, but not particularly striking and popu- 
lar. In 1839 he was elected Moderator of the 
General Assembly, the highest honor the church 
could confer. Warmly attached to evangelical 
religion, and deeply interested in the purity and 
progress of the church of Christ throughout the 
world, he earnestly promoted the cause of Chris- 
tian missions, and kindred schemes of benevolence. 
He was intimately associated with Dr. Chalmers 
and others, in sustaining the great principles of vital 
Christianity, the supremacy of Christ in his own 
church, and particularly the freedom and indepen- 
dence of his ministers. " True, therefore, to the 
principles he had espoused, and ever warmly de- 
fended — true to what he considered the genuine 
constitution of the Scottish church, this venerable 
and amiable father left, in the ever memorable year 
1843, that manse, which he had inhabited for four 
and forty long and happy years, and which his 
own fine taste had so greatly beautified and adorn- 
ed — that hallowed home in which his dutiful and 
attached children had been reared — in w^hich his 



370 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

first beloved wife had died, and which was asso- 
ciated with many delightful recollections of joy and 
kindness, and prayer, indelibly engraven on many 
hearts — for there was many a young idea fostered, 
and many a guest and many a stranger hospitably 
entertained. But with a cloud of many eminent 
witnesses, whose names will be embalmed in the 
records of their country. Dr. Duncan lifted up his 
testimony for the glorious prerogative of Zion's 
King, and counted the reproach of Christ, greater 
inches than all the treasures of earth. And actu- 
ated by the same spirit of faith as the martyrs and 
confessors of other days — the men of whom the 
world was not worthy — he abandoned, at an ad- 
vanced age, all the comforts of his lovely and 
endeared home, and all the emoluments and de- "^ 
lights connected with it, and meekly took up his 
lowly dwelling in an humble cottage by the way- 
side, willingly enduring hardship, and submitting 
to ingratitude from man, that he might honor his 
God and hold fast his integrity, dearer to him than 
life. He was one of seven moderators of the old 
General Assembly, men like himself of high name 
and holy deeds, who sacrificed all their honors and 
emoluments, and cast in their lot with the Free 
Church of Scotland, that they might display a ban- 
ner for the truth, and who, when driven by a cruel 
and miserable policy from those altars which they 
sanctified, went forth, a veteran band of Christian 
heroes, and preached the Gospel of peace and sal- 
vation under the broad canopy of heaven, with 
gray hairs streaming in the breeze." 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 371 

During the summer of 1843 Dr. Duncan preached 
in the open air, but finally succeeded by great 
efforts, in securing a site, and erecting upon it a 
church and a manse, a school and a schoolmaster's 
house. A suitable successor was appointed to this 
charge, and Dr. Duncan removed his residence to 
the city of Edinburgh. But his affections lingered 
around his beloved Ruthwell, and he undertook a 
journey to England to secure funds to pay off the 
debt upon the new buildings and bring them to a 
state of completion. Having accomplished his ob- 
ject, he returned to Scotland in excellent spirits, 
and reached Comlogan Castle, the residence of his 
brother-in-law. On that and the succeeding day 
he occupied himself in laying out the grounds about 
the manse and giving directions respecting the 
buildings. On the following Sabbath he preached 
to an overflowing audience. Monday and Tues- 
day were devoted to visiting his old parishioners. 
He was invited to address a prayer meeting at the 
house of an elder of the Established church, and it 
was while engaged in the perforinance of that duty 
that the messenger of Death met him. He had not 
spoken ten minutes, when his voice trembled, his 
body shuddered, and it was evident to all that he 
w^as struck with a sudden paralysis. He was im- 
mediately conveyed to Comlogan Castle. " On his 
way, though his speech was much affected, his 
consciousness w^as entire, and he repeatedly lifted 
up his hand, in devout admiration of God's beauti- 
ful works, for the moon, surrounded by thousands 
of stars, was shedding its calm and chastened lustre 



372 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

over the face of Nature, and presented a meet em- 
blem of the inward peace of the dying saint, whose 
characteristic taste and love of Nature's beauties 
were still manifested even in this trying hour."* 
After two days, in which he suffered little pain, he 
gently " fell asleep in Jesus," on Thursday evening, 
12th of February, 1846. 

Behold the western evening light, 

It melts in deepening gloom ; 
So calmly Christians sink away, 

Descending to the tomb. 

The winds breathe low ; the yellow leaf 

Scarce whispers from the tree ; 
So gently flows the parting breath, 

When good men cease to be. 

How beautifQl on all the hills, 

The crimson light is shed ! 
^Tis like the peace the Christian gives 

To mourners round his bed. 

How mildly on the wandering cloud 

The sunset beam is cast ! 
So sweet the memory left behind, 

Where loved ones breathe their last. 

And lo ! above the dews of night 

The vesper star appears ; 
So faith lights up the mourner's heart, 

Whose eyes are dim with tears. 

Night falls, but soon the morning light 

Its glories shall restore ; 
And thus the eyes that sleep in death 

Shall wake to close no more. 

Peahody, 

=* " Dumfries Advertiser and Galloway Standard,'' from which 
"we quoted a preceding extract. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND, 373 

Daylight is on the hills, and we are off once 
more down the Tweed, which gathers volume by 
accessions from tributary streams, and mirrors in 
its clear bosom many a happy home, nestling 
among the trees on its banks. We pass Cold- 
stream, on the north bank of the Tweed, from its 
proximity to England a sort of Gretna Green in 
former times, where Lord Brougham was married 
at one of the hotels ; whence we journey to Till- 
mouth ; at which place the Till, a narrow, deep, 
sullen stream, flow^s into the Tweed. Beneath 
Twisel Castle, which stands upon its banks, you 
see the ancient bridge by which the English crossed 
the Till before the battle of Flodden. 

— " They cross'd 
The Till, by Twisel Bridge. 
High sight it is, and haughty, while 
They drew into the deep defile ; 
Beneath the cavern'd clitf they fall, 
Beneath the castle's airy wall. 

By rock, by oak, by hawthorn-tree, 
Troop after troop are disappearing ; 
Troop after troop their banners rearing, 

Upon the eastern bank you see. 
Still pouring down the rocky den 

Where flows the sullen Till, 
And rising from the dim wood glen 
iStandards on standards, men on men 

In slow succession still. 
And sweeping o'er the Gothic arch, 
And passing on, in ceaseless march 

To gain the opposing hill." 

Marmion. 

Flodden Field, on which the " flowers of the for- 
est," were cut down so mercilessly, is not far from 

32 



374 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

here, and the whole region seems invested with an 
air of "dule and wae." 

^^ Dule and wae for the order sent our lads to the Border ! 
The English, for once by guile won the day ; 
The Flowers of the Forest, that focht age the foremostj 
The prime o' our land a^e cauld in the clay. 

^' We hear nae mair lilting at our yowe-milking, 
Women and bairns are heartless and wae ; 
Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning — 
The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away.''* 

Pursuing our way, we come to Norham Castle, 
so magnificently described in Marmion. 

" Day set on Norham's castle steep, 
And Tweed's fair river broad and deep, 

And Cheviot's mountains lone ; 
The battled towers, the donjon keep. 
The loop-hole grates where captives weep, 
The flanking walls that round it sweep. 

In yellow lustre shone." 

Nine miles further on, we arrive at "Berwick 
upon Tweed," where the river falls into the Ger- 
man Ocean, and where our wanderings in Scot- 
land cease, — the scene of fierce struggles between 
the Scots and English. North Berwick was some- 
times in the hands of the one, sometimes in the 
hands of the other. Its streets often ran blood ; its 
walls echoed the tramp of armies, the shrieks of 
the wounded and the groans of the dying. Its old 
ramparts are yet standing ; but all is quiet and 

* '• The Flowers of the Forest," by Miss Jane Elliot, one of the 
sweetest and most affecting ballads of Scotland. By the ' Flowers 
of the Forest' are meant the young men of Ettrick Forest, slain 
at Flodden Field. 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 375 

passionless now. A sort of stillness pervades the 
place, in striking contrast with the havoc and tur- 
moil of the ancient Border wars. The environs 
are full of historic recollections, which have been 
well illustrated in the "Border Tales," by John 
Mackie Wilson, who was a native of Berwick, and 
resided here till his death. This event took place, 
suddenly and unexpectedly, on the 2d of Septem- 
ber, 1835, when he was only thirty-one years of 
age. His early days were spent, in peace and 
happiness, under the parental roof At school he 
was distinguished for his love of knowledge, and 
the rapidity with which he executed all his tasks. 
At a suitable age he was. apprenticed to a printer, 
and found the employment congenial, as it brought 
him into contact with books. Eagerly thirsting for 
knowledge, he soon exhausted his scanty means of 
gratifying his taste in Berwick on Tweed, and 
leaving the place of his nativity, repaired to Lon- 
don, where he encountered the greatest difficulties 
and hardships. It is said that some of the most 
touching descriptions of the sufferings endured by 
the aspirant for fame were actually endured by 
himself, and " that the sobs and tears which invol- 
untarily burst from the family circle when these 
tales were read, were poured forth for him whose 
pen had described them." Often amid the splendor 
of London, did he wander " homeless and friend- 
less." But nothing could repress the native ardor 
and buoyancy of his mind. And amid all the dark- 
ness of the night which enveloped his pathway, he 



376 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

was ever looking for sunrise. Despair and poverty, 
hov^ever, drove him from the British metropoUs, 
and he was forced to seek in the provinces w^hat 
he could not find in London, nor did he seek in vain. 
He reaped " a golden harvest of opinions ;" but 
poverty continued to be his companion for years. 
During a sojourn in the city of Edinburgh, he pub- 
lished several dramas and other poems, which had 
a share of success. He wrote a series of" Lectures 
and Biographical Sketches," which he deUvered 
with considerable eclat in different towns of Scot- 
land and England. Three years before his death 
"he rested from his wanderings," in his native 
village, among his friends and early associates, 
having been invited to become editor of" The Ber- 
wick Advertiser," which he conducted with great 
spirit. Amid his labors as an editor, he found time 
to indulge his taste for literature, and the matter 
of his journal was often enlivened by his own lite- 
rary and poetical effusions. But it was " The Bor- 
der Tales," which made him a decided favorite 
with the public, and gave him a warm place in the 
Scottish heart. They were published in a fugitive 
form, and commanded a circulation far beyond the 
author's most sanguine hopes. It was from these 
that he and his friends saw a prospect of reward 
for his toils. But the scene which was thus open- 
ing upon him was blighted, — and from the high 
place which he had gained in the estimation of his 
townsmen, from the caresses of his friends, and 
from the reproaches of his foes, he now lies " where 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 377 

the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are 
at rest." 

We do not admire Wilson's poetry as a whole ; 
and yet some beautiful strains might be culled from 
it. He wrote rapidly and diffusely; throwing off 
everything at a first draft, without much correction 
or polish. His " Border Tales" are quite miscella- 
neous in their character, and contain much that he 
would doubtless have thrown out, had he lived to 
place them in a permanent form. Others are writ- 
ten diffusely and carelessly. But with all their 
faults, they give indications of genius, humor and 
pathos, a keen insight into character, great descrip- 
tive powers, and a fine conception of the beautiful 
and true. Some of them are told with great pith 
and raciness ; and though inferior in some respects, 
to Professor Wilson's *' Lights and Shadows of 
Scottish Life," are more natural and easy, more 
characteristic and amusing. Upon the whole, they 
give a better idea of the Scottish character than 
the Professor's splendid, but exaggerated pictures. 
James Mackay Wilson died too young for his fame ; 
but his simple tales will be read, for many a day, in 
the homes of "bonny Scotland." Among other 
things, they give a just representation of the reli- 
gious character of the Scottish peasantry. While 
their faults and foibjes are depicted with graphic 
power, their solemn faith, their profound enthusi- 
asm, and their leal-hearted piety are exhibited in 
beautiful relief. Justice is done to the old Cove- 
nanters, whose rough patriotism and burning zeal 

32* 



378 GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 

were the salvation of their native land. Long may 
their martyr spirit, softened by charity, prevail in 
Scotland ; and generations yet unborn shall " rise 
up and call her blessed." 

In this series of sketches, now brought to a close, 
it has been the author's aim to make a contribution 
to literature, which, while it might prove attractive, 
would yet exert a pure moral influence. Such an 
excursion beyond the peculiar limits of his profes- 
sion, he thinks, was permitted him, at least for 
once, and may tend to promote the great object for 
which he desires to live. At all events, if he has 
accomplished nothing more, he has yet succeeded 
in calling up "a gentle vision" of "Auld Lang 
Syne," by which his own heart has been solaced 
and cheered. 

'*' Lang Syne I how doth the word come back, 

With magic meaning to the heart, 
As memory roams the sunny track, 

From which hope's dreams were loath to part ! 
No joy like by-past joy appears; 

For what is gone we fret and pine ; 
Were lift spun out a thousand years, 

It could not match Lang Syne ! 

" Lang Syne ! — ah, where are they who shared 

With us its pleasures bright and blithe ? 
Kindly with some hath fortune fared ; 

And some have bowed beneath the scythe 
Of death ; while others scattered far 

O'er foreign lands, at fate repine. 
Oft wandering forth 'neath twilight's star. 

To muse on dear Lang Syne ! 

" Lang Syne ! — the heart can never be 
Again so full of guileless truth ; 



GENIUS OF SCOTLAND. 379 

Lang Syne ! — the eyes no more shall see 

Ah, no ! the rainbow hopes of youth. 
Lang Syne ! — with thee resides a spell 

To raise the spirit, and refine. 
Farewell ! — there can be no farewell 

To thee, loved, lost Lang Syne !'' 

Dr. Moir. 



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